Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Question about splitting a community

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> Our Israeli cohousing group will be splitting simply because there are two
> subgroups who desire different living locations: one in Jerusalem, one out
> of Jerusalem. As to how it's going, we have not yet begun the process and
> are choosing to continue as one group until the time when we have settled
> on our first location. At that time, depending on the location, some will
> go forward with the choice and some will continue to search for another
> location. As I stated in my first post, we see ourselves as  one group, two
> sites.

Many groups have done this with one group splitting off after land has been 
chosen. The land available won’t suit everyone’s needs. Location is a huge 
factor in choosing a home. People have jobs they don’t want to leave, or 
schools their children like, etc.

The difference may be that you know this will be necessary in a big way. 
Usually it is just 2-3 households. The question I would have is conflict 
between the distribution of energies in land searches. Will you have two groups 
looking — one in Jerusalem and one out of Jerusalem?

Time in meetings would also be a factor — it takes time to discuss one group of 
possibilities. Two would often take twice as long.

Mental fatigue. The whole group will be discussing twice as many obstacles. 
Having large group support sounds good but it means giving twice as much 
support too.

When I was able to leave a day job and just write, one of the things I was glad 
to leave behind was angst about jobs. Losing, finding, wanting, interviewing, 
etc. Such a relief. But then I moved in to Cohousing. The job issues are 
constant. Nonprofits have melted. Business closed. Fields of expertise gone 
extinct. Outsourcing leaves people scrambling for pieces of things. One the 
other person is always unemployed or seriously underemployed or in danger of 
being unemployed. 

With a community comes all the benefits, but you also share the woes. Sharing 
the development woes of two groups at the same time might be too much.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org