Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Is cohousing a consumer product?

[Katie Henry (katie-henry]

Hey Steve. You know that I've been following you and various NJ/NY/PA groups 
since the mid-2000s. I have enormous respect for your efforts. I gave up on 
finding a community in the region and moved out of state to join a group that 
had land and was about to start building.

A couple of things you may or may not be aware of:

1. New York State - especially the Hudson Valley - should be a hotbed of 
cohousing. There are a few existing communities (Ithica; Cantines Island), but 
it's pretty much impossible to develop new communities due to the state's 
overzealous enforcement of the Martin Act (Martin Act - Wikipedia) since Eliot 
Spitzer took office. One forming group was served with a cease-and-desist order 
for organizing potlucks. The NY folks have money and determination but don't 
seem willing to consider NJ or PA. 

2. I don't believe there are currently any developers financing cohousing 
projects. The ones that did either retired or stopped after the great 
recession. The money has to come from the future residents or it's not going to 
happen. Sad but true.  

There's a trend of developers building pocket neighborhoods with a community 
"feel" (https://amabel.org/; https://www.edmondlark.com/). The future residents 
aren't involved in design or planning and don't know each other until they move 
in. I'm curious how the relationships in those communities will play out over 
time.

Katie Henry

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Steve Welzer wrote:

> Well, since 2014 we’ve had a Meetup group called “EcoVillage New Jersey.”
> It has over 800 members. They are clamoring to live in an intentional
> community. They come to meetings, they give some volunteer time, they give
> some money. They don’t know how to make a $10 million real estate
> development come to fruition. And so, despite all the interest, there is
> not yet a single cohousing or ecovillage-living option in the entire NJ-NYC
> metropolitan area of 20 million people.