Re: Unoccupied Units & the Effect on Workshare | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: David Heimann (heimann![]() |
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Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2023 20:34:23 -0800 (PST) |
Hello Everyone,Sharon's discussion about the varying desires of parents with their children's activities and carpooling reminds me of why we at Jamaica Plain Cohousing and many other communities were presented with our project consultants with no variation within a given unit size. People argued that they were willing to pay for their extra fringes, but the consultants and architects pointed out that even those payments would not compensated for the extra expenses and especially the extra delay that all these individual choices would inflict on the community.
Sharon points out a similar story with children's arrangements. If each parent wants specialized arrangements with their children's schedules, then even though the parents were willing to pay for their specific details, the overall setup would (and presumably did!) melt into an unwieldy hodge-podge. They would have been better off in determing a few schedules that every family would choose from, allowing far better coordination and less cost in time, money, and angst. Even though each parent would have to make micro-adjustments on their own, the overall picture would have been much clearer, simpler, and less costly overall!
Regards, David Heimann Jamaica Plain Cohousing Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2023 19:19:54 -0500 From: Sharon Villines <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com> To: Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Unoccupied Units & the Effect on Workshare Message-ID: <EFC1D850-7711-4D35-BD93-AEBBC0E2C9BD [at] sharonvillines.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8The Kendall group of continuing care facilities is resident governed and very inclusive. The problem is that care needed is unique to each person and changes over time ? and not in a straight line. Good months and bad months. And not even predictable by age. So it is hard for 2-3 people or even 10 to collaborate on hiring caregivers.
A comparable situation in cohousing is getting children to school and back every day. I was surprised that it was not possible for parents to carpool. We had 20 at one point who were taken individually by their parent or caregiver to different daycares, nursery schools, public schools, public charter schools, or private schools. I thought that at least after a few years the parents would coalesce and find common paths but they really couldn?t.
Each child was in a different grade and at a different school. Schools are not so simple as elementary school and high school. They have odd grades: ages infant to 3, 2 to 5, 3-6, 4-6, pre-k to 5th grade, 6-8th grade, 6-12th grade, 9-12. So it wasn?t easy to coordinate without years of planning. And of course, each school was in a different direction and started at a different time. Once children start attending school children want to stay in the same school. Or the school doesn?t work and they change to a school no one else attends.
Parents also had a variety of needs. Some were almost rigid about time and others were very relaxed to the point of not knowing what time it was. The schools also had different standards and some didn?t have set arrival times. The difference meant those two households couldn?t comfortably join forces. One household considered commuting to be prime time for serious conversations and wanted to be alone.
It?s complicated. There is a reason organizations move toward uniformity. It?s easier when everyone is the same.
The one thing that can be done for caregiver help is for members of the community to learn about what is available in the larger community. The home nursing programs, adult daycare centers, etc. There are many services.
Sharon ---- Sharon Villines Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC http://www.takomavillage.org
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