Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Graduating to Cohousing on Steroids

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Jun 13, 2025, at 9:13 AM, Mac Thomson <macthomson [at] mac.com> wrote:
> 
> Thank you for sharing this Sharon.
> 
> I would concur that the scale of cohousing makes us very dependent on 
> volunteers, rather than paid professionals, to do the work of maintaining the 
> community, which can become very challenging for community members with 
> already very full lives.
> 
> And I would also concur that there are many, many flavors of community 
> besides cohousing. All are to be celebrated in this world generally so 
> lacking in community

It will be interesting to see how your budget changes when the new units are 
added. Our reserve specialists and management company reps have told Takoma 
Village that it would take 400 units to support the kind of amenities TVC has 
and at least 100 units to support hiring a jack of all trades on site 
handiperson. TVC is attached units so all the exterior surfaces and grounds are 
common costs, and include internet services. In the city that means storm sewer 
and water. And assessments for sq ft of impervious paved areas including the 
parking lot and sidewalks. And the groundsource water loops for each unit’s 
HVAC. 

For those who are questioning the cost of groundsource heat pumps, that is what 
I miss most in terms of facilities. There are heat pumps at Riderwood but they 
are above ground. In the unit, I have the equivalent of a traditional hot air 
system. In the summer the air blows very cold and then quietly sits until it 
gets hot again. The variation might be good for my body’s own regulation but it 
was much nicer to have a more even temperature produced by water being moved 
more slowly through the loops. After 25 years, I just never thought about it. I 
set the thermostat at 74 in the summer and 70 in the winter. The variation was 
plus or minus 1-2 degrees.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Riderwood Village, Silver Spring MD