Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: fencing for dense urban build

[Scott Walker (scott]

Love this. Good synopsis. 
 
Cheers,
Scott W. Walker
www.scottswines.com
scott [at] scottswines.com
707-508-7475
 
From: Stuart Pettygrove <gspettygrove [at] ucdavis.edu>
Date: Friday, April 3, 2026 at 4:24 PM
To: <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Cc: Lisa Walker <Lotus913 [at] icloud.com>, Scott Walker <scott [at] 
scottswines.com>
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ fencing for dense urban build
 
Rebecca,
We are 35 condos on one half acre, all in one 4-story building. This is in the 
city of West Sacramento. No families with kids and a mix of working/retired. 
More single women than other categories. We have inside parking for one vehicle 
per unit in two separate garages.  We moved in 22 months ago and have had some 
security issues. Some bikes were stolen from our interior bike room - we've 
fixed that (knock on wood) with keypad locks. Also posted a sign at our front 
door asking delivery people and our members to NOT allow anyone to follow them 
into the  building. Our front door is locked and has a latchkey with voice/cell 
phone system. Keeping close track of the latchkey cards (each card issued can 
be traced to an individual) is important.  USPS and a few others have a code 
for the front door. Waste management has a code to get into the trash room 
rollup door.
The main ongoing issue is that it is possible to climb over the fence on two 
sides of property, and if you get in that way, you can access the larger of the 
two garages. We had a couple of car break-ins.  We have rollup doors in both 
garages, and we ask residents to make sure those are closed before driving 
away, etc. We have a security team, which has floated the idea of cameras in 
the garage and possibly elsewhere - and with or without a contractor like ADT. 
Not sure the community will consent to that.TBD.
Other ideas:  Make the fences harder to climb over (e.g.with an extension 
making them 8 ft tall). We've asked that everyone lock their cars and remove 
anything that might be attractive, even phone charger cables and the rollup 
door "clickers". Also, remove all loose items from the garage or put them in a 
locked cabinet. A few households have a large amount of unsecured items on 
their parking spot and don't seem to be interested in removing or locking up 
that stuff. 
 
With all that background, my suggestions for you:  Keep talking with each other 
about privacy vs security vs openness.  In our community, there is a wide range 
of concern from what I would call "very fearful" to "not particularly 
concerned". No one in cohousing wants to live in a "gated community", but if 
you live in an urban setting, you probably will want at the very least to make 
it inconvenient for burglars. Consult with police. We were able to get an 
officer to visit us, walk the property and meet with the community. That was 
very helpful.  Also definitely talk to managers of nearby apartment buildings.  
Lastly, talk to the general contractor about how they will secure the property 
while it is under construction.  If there is room in your parking area, provide 
lockable storage cages as part of the price of each parking space.
Good luck with your wonderful project. It's exciting that you've been able to 
get the combination market rate/subsidized cohousing going!
Stu Pettygrove
Washington Commons Cohousing
330 G Street
West Sacramento CA
 
On Fri, Apr 3, 2026 at 8:43 AM Rebecca Herman via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] 
cohousing.org> wrote:
I am a member of  Cathedral Park Cohousing in Portland, OR.

We are an inclusive, multigenerational, 50/50 market rate/subsidized
community. We are getting closer to starting construction of our
condo/apartment build in North Portland, OR! We will have 23 units spread
over 2 buildings connected by external bridges/stairs and an elevator with
several outdoor landscaped areas on our approximate 1/2 acre near the
downtown St Johns neighborhood. Universal design principals will provide
accessibility to age in place & move about using wheels. We will have some
surface level car parking.

We are currently discussing fencing. While we do not want to live in a
gated community we are concerned about safety & security, especially for
our most vulnerable members.

Would appreciate any observations about safety in similarly designed
cohousing communities that do AND do not have fencing. If you opted for
fencing, thoughts about fence design specifics. Any pictures or links for
visuals would also be appreciated.

And please share our information with anyone looking for cohousing in the
Pacific Northwest!
https://www.cathedralparkcohousing.com/events/

Thank you!
Rebecca
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