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

[Kathleen Lowry (kathleenlowrylpcclmft]

It might be interesting to know what the closest thing is out there to what 
Sharon describes- developers are understanding community pretty quickly now, so 
there is a lot of really nice common space, coffee shop and a woods next door 
in some Minnesota senior coops. I think I’ll do some research on the price 
range! Before my sister in law passed away at her senior coop she had a 
celebration of life gathering and 175 people showed up, 125 from that living 
community. 

> On Mar 13, 2023, at 2:13 PM, Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l 
> [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> There have been many things said to be “not cohousing” over the years. 
> Senior cohousing was taboo — cohousing has to be intergenerational. Religious 
> focus taboo. No political creed. Mainstream developers — taboo. Groups 
> thought they had to handle everything themselves or they would lose control. 
> Not that any developers were knocking down their doors, but eventually 
> mainstream developers have become involved and it has worked very well. 
> 
> The importance of a group designing the physical community is that it creates 
> a long period of time in which people can come together gradually before 
> living with or next to each other. This is time available to learn to adapt 
> and understand each other or decide to leave. It is an opportunity to come 
> together in purpose-driven activities, not just be entertained with 
> getting-to-know-you potlucks or going to an amusement park. This is the time 
> for everyone to learn how to make collective decisions and trust each other.
> 
> A developer couldn’t just build and sell 40+ units arranged around a green 
> and a common house to 40 individual households who all move in at the same 
> time and expect cohousing to happen on Monday.
> 
> The DIY model means that people begin becoming a community from the first 
> meeting when they find they have a common goal. And not all of them appear at 
> the same time. It’s a gradual process of incorporating people over a period 
> of 2-3+ years.
> 
> The architectural possibilities are not so unique they require so much 
> individualization. I remember touring a large rental building of apartments 
> that opened near us a few years after we moved in. I felt very odd walking 
> through the units until I realized it was because they were almost identical 
> to ours. Doors, cabinets,  drawer pulls, fixtures, colors, etc. Things we had 
> spent much time deciding, a developer had just installed in far less time.
> 
> I’m not suggesting that cohousing professionals aren’t worth their weight in 
> gold—they are—but some decisions that groups spend a lot of hours discussing 
> end up being made by the costs or zoning or building codes. Standard sizes of 
> wallboard, for example, will decide the height of the ceilings unless you are 
> building for a high-end market. Certain materials will be available in 
> certain sizes and only certain things will be technically feasible. The 
> contractors will only have a certain range of skills. 
> 
> So it isn’t about the self-designed architecture, it’s about the hours that 
> that process requires to build a community of people who can work together to 
> get things done. It builds a core that then can incorporate more people.
> 
> I don’t know what would replicate that time and focus before suddenly taking 
> charge of a $10 million housing complex. 
> 
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
> 
> 
> 
> 
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