Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Steve Welzer's Challenge to the cohousing 'system'

[Mac Thomson (macthomson]

Sadly, the mountain of land use and housing regulations is horrific in rural 
areas also. They are adding at least $100,000 per home here (rural SW Colorado) 
— that is, if we’re lucky enough to navigate the county approval process and 
are allowed to build.

IMO, if you are looking for the reason for exorbitant housing costs, look not 
further than bloated regulations. Capitalism exists where there are minimal 
barriers to entry. That is certainly not the case with developing real estate 
and building homes. Capitalism is not the culprit.

-- 
Mac Thomson

Heartwood Cohousing
Southwest Colorado
http://www.heartwoodcohousing.com


"The most beautiful thing one can experience is the mysterious. It is the 
source of all true art and science. He to whom this reaction is a stranger -- 
who no longer can pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe -- is as good as dead, 
his eyes are closed."
      - Albert Einstein
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> On Mar 15, 2023, at 12:25 PM, Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l 
> [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> On Mar 15, 2023, at 10:22 AM, John Pustell via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] 
> cohousing.org> wrote:
>> 
>> For example re real costs here is how we financed things at Bay State 
>> Commons (Just moved in in November 2022 after 9 years!) -
>> 
>> ** All initial funds for search and design came from ourselves - about 
>> $400,000 (very risky investment)
> 
> I think John’s account of the Bay State Commons development, north of Boston 
> center, is an excellent example of what building a cohousing community in a 
> city will cost today. And how much funding had to come from within the group.
> 
> The same reason cohousing is not “affordable” for more than half of the US 
> population. Staying within the system means you are limited by its 
> requirements.
> 
> Historically, populations who were not benefiting from the system, like 
> homesteaders, immigrants, etc., went outside it to build or take advantage of 
> a different system. Unless your urban area is in the depths of decay, it 
> won’t be amenable to such changes. The other direction is toward rural areas 
> where the constraints are fewer but the urban amenities are also fewer, said 
> Captain Obvious.
> 
> In the 1960s there was a great movement of people building their own homes. 
> The Woodstock Houses have been written about extensively. One account by a 
> woman who built her own house said the only advice her builder friend gave 
> her was “Design it so that no piece is longer than 4 ft.”  She was 5 ft long. 
> The lesson being design something you can physically manage yourself. These 
> homes were primitive and beautiful. 
> 
> One family in California sold their house, had movers load everything into a 
> truck, and dump it all under a large tree on land they had purchased. From 
> there, they started building. A teenager built his own house in a tree. Tent 
> cities are building and rebuilding all over the country. 
> 
> It’s probably the same amount of work either way but the challenges are 
> different.
> 
> There are some resources and ideas on my site, Strong Neighborhoods.
> 
> https://www.strongneighborhoods.info/
> 
> Architectural schools in particular are aiming at the $100,000 house. The 
> Tiny House movement. Japan has incredible designers working on 400-600 SF 
> apartments. 
> 
> It will take a group building for itself to break the barrier. No one else is 
> going to do that work without compensation. 
> 
> Sharon
> —————
> Sharon Villines, Washington DC
> 
> We don’t agonize, we organize. — Nancy Pelosi
> 
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