Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohousing in DC paper The Hill today

[R Philip Dowds (rphilipdowds]

This article has almost nothing to do with making conventional housing more 
affordable:
      (1) Tiny homes — single-family buildings squeezed to the size of a couple 
of rooms — are incredibly inefficient in terms of sq ft or amenity per dollar.  
For efficiency and lower cost, it’s better to go for a studio apartment in a 
multifamily structure.  
      (2) If you want to live in a barn — funky finishes, limited fenestration, 
little heat and no air conditioning, hardly any utilities distribution, minimal 
partitioning of the interior — then maybe a barnhouse is OK.  But there’s no 
way to “save money” by making a conventional house look like a barn.  (The 
article does correctly point out that renovating an old barn to be conventional 
housing usually costs more than building a conventional house.)
      (3) As I’ve argued before, there is no reason to expect cohousing 
dwelling units to be cheaper than conventional dwelling units.  What you get 
for your cohousing investment is a different lifestyle, not a bargain house.  
(The article does correctly point out that savings from a lifestyle of 
*sharing* can add up … but these are not savings that will be observable in 
real estate pricing.)

So (1) and (2) are really about probably-better-than-nothing downscalings one 
might tolerate when one does not have the savings and income to support 
conventional.  (3), cohousing, does not belong in this article with (1) and (2).

———————————
Thanks,
Philip Dowds
Cornerstone Cohousing
Cambridge, MA

> On Apr 22, 2025, at 1:35 PM, Glen Ecklund <glen.ecklund [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Here's the article:
> https://thehill.com/business/housing/5245294-nontraditional-housing-alternatives/
> 
> *Glen Ecklund*
> 711 S. Orchard St., #303
> Madison, WI 53715
> 
> 
> On Tue, Apr 22, 2025 at 8:23 AM KAREN A CARLSON via Cohousing-L <
> cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
>> ????
>> 
>> Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Cohousing-L <cohousing-l-bounces+kcarlson2=wisc.edu [at] cohousing.org>
>> on behalf of Katie Henry <katie-henry [at] att.net>
>> Sent: Monday, April 21, 2025 2:40:10 PM
>> To: Cohousing-L Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
>> Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Cohousing in DC paper The Hill today
>> 
>> That was awful! You'd think they'd mention the cohousing community in DC
>> or the many communities in the DC area. And who is building barndominiums
>> in Washington DC??? Sheesh. Anyway, we won't hold it against you, Raines.
>> You know better.
>> 
>> 
>> Katie Henry
>> Heartwood Common - Tulsa
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