Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Diversity

[Beverly Jones Redekop (beverly.jones.redekop]

Ah -- good point. People in big cities with expensive real estate would be
much more tolerant of sharing a kitchen.

Vancouver, BC, also has expensive real estate, but we're an hour of freeway
driving away from that.  I am happy to modify my extreme stance for
cohousing in more moderately priced cities :-)

I also like Sharon's term "studio apartment" better than the "bachelor
apartment" term I used.

I am glad to see people brainstorming ways to be inclusive.

On Sun, Aug 5, 2018, 4:24 PM Mariana Almeida via Cohousing-L <
cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:

> As a counterpoint, if you have an incredibly tight housing market as we do
> in San Francisco area, you may find mature, working adults who are ready to
> make it work long term.
> In fact, I hear people here talk about this arrangement with longing
> because currently they a single bathroom shared amongst three unrelated
> adults AND a shared kitchen. For each one to have their own bathroom would
> be a step up.
> Mariana Berkeley, CA
>
>     On Sunday, August 5, 2018, 2:51:30 PM PDT, Beverly Jones Redekop <
> beverly.jones.redekop [at] gmail.com> wrote:
>
>  "Pinnacle Cohousing is finally (after years of zoning problems) looking
> for
> members (aiming to have our first stage move in Fall 2019), and one part of
> our design is apodments - 3 sharing a kitchen (there will part-time kitchen
> steward, probably someone who lives here, but not necessarily, who will
> help organize leftovers, kitchen organization, etc.  With designed shared
> housing, using a pod model, we may make some of our homes slightly more
> affordable.  We also hope to have a few of the units be rentals."
>
> Groundswell Cohousing at Yarrow Ecovillage allowed a pair of
> member/investors to build "the quad" which sounds exactly like your
> apodments.  Four  units have individual large bathrooms and a shared
> kitchen and living room.
>
> It is one of the worst ideas we ever had around here.  We keep burning out
> members of the welcome team because it is such a drag to keep orienting the
> transient people as they move in and out of the quad.
>
> Adults don't like sharing kitchens and they move out the second they can.
>
> Build bachelor suites with tiny bathrooms and kitchenettes, but this shared
> kitchen bother is a source of endless friction and drama.
>
> If you built tiny bachelor suites, residents could still use the common
> house kitchen for larger projects when they were in a shared kitchen mood,
> but they would have their own little kitchenette for when they want to eat
> breakfast in their underwear or when they feel a bit unwell and want to be
> able to leave a couple of dirty dishes in the sink for a day or two.
>
> You could also build your two-bedroom units to have dual master suites,
> allowing owners to rent out the second master suite as desired.  Two
> parties can share a kitchen, especially when one party is the
> owner/investor who is choosing and hosting the renter.
>
> Four unrelated parties who all have equal responsibility or lack thereof
> for the space....they move out all the time.  They move out as soon as they
> can.
>
> Our biggest wish here is for the four owners (none of whom live in the unit
> anymore -- see above where I say that people move out as soon as they can)
> to coordinate to renovate the quad into two conventional two-story
> townhouses.
>
> There is nothing wrong with renters or roommates, but a purpose-built space
> is a mistake best avoided.
>
> Sincerely,
> Beverly, former member of welcoming team, quit because of pointlessness of
> welcoming the revolving carousel of the quad
>
> It feels sad to welcome people whom you know won't stay.
>
>
>
> >
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