Letters to the Editor

The map of cohousing

I really liked the latest web page map of where cohousing exists today in the US that listed those in existence and those planned (“Where do cohousing communities exist today?” January 2007).

What would really help, if possible, is when we click on a state – or from a list of states – that we could see where those sites were in the respective states. In other words, click on Oregon and see what cities have the completed ones, what cities have those “in-progress”. I know where I'm considering to live and that would really help in the search.
Thanks,
Kevin McHugh
January 2, 2007

Thank you for your comment. Actually the functionality you describe already exists on the cohousing directory, but as a list rather than a map. Go to the Community Directory. Click on "Oregon" in the righthand list to call up a list of the nine communities in Oregon. The right column shows the status for each - completed or at an earlier stage. – editor

Avoiding Gossip in Community

Chuck Durrett’s article, “An open letter about gossip” in the November 2006 issue prompted two readers to respond:

One additional facet we use in the community I live in (a small boarding school) is that we communicate to the community at large when an issue has been resolved. As the article pointed out, negative talk, or talk behind someone's back for whatever reason, is often more "public" than we realize. Amazing how perceptive a small community is! So it is wonderful when the community learns that any small or large issue has been resolved. No need to go into great detail unless the parties wish to.
Carolyn Herb
December 1, 2006

Thank you, Chuck, for bringing up this extremely important issue. It seems so basic, just "common sense," except that speaking to a person instead of about them does not seem to be common at all, either in cohousing or the larger communities around us.
Thanks for the reminder.
Eva Hayward-George (formerly of Tierra Nueva, still a cohouser in spirit)
December 3, 2006

Retrofit cohousing

Dear Editor,
I found the articles in the April online Cohousing magazine very interesting, particularly the articles about elder cohousing, which raised excellent issues about the needs for social interaction with various ages but also the specific needs that can arise with the elderly, and the article about retrofit cohousing.

The article about retrofit cohousing interested me greatly since I love urban living but miss the sense of neighborhood and community that used to be common in cities. It is becoming increasingly rare and the quality of life suffers as a result. I've been interested for some time in urban communities such as cohousing, and "retrofit" housing is certainly the most feasible at today's prices and lack of empty space.

But I wonder if the community in the article has planned for what will happen when individual units are sold in the future. The person who offers the best price for a unit doesn't necessarily share the same lifestyle interests as others in a building - as a condominium owner I'm all too aware of the problems this can cause even in a building that isn't an intentional community - and with increasing housing shortages in urban areas, and the fact that unexpected circumstances occur that force people to move from homes they planned to stay longer in, units could be sold to new owners who don't necessarily share the same ideals and interests.

I would like very much to read follow-up in the future as to how various intentional communities have addressed this potential problem.
Sincerely,
Loren Reichman
April 25, 2006

Retrofit response

Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to Loren Reichman’s thoughtful letter of April 25, 2006. Regarding the concern about units in a cohousing community being sold to persons "who do not share the same lifestyles," I think it's safe to say that once a cohousing community is up and running there are almost always folks in the area who make it known to the community that they are eager to purchase a unit there when one that is the right size for their household becomes available.

If someone - or several someones - are not waiting in the wings and the unit goes to public sale, almost all communities have either a formal or informal agreement that if a household sells their unit, they will fully inform potential buyers about what it means to live in cohousing. That means that they will typically invite their prospective buyers to one or more common meals, to a workday, to a community meeting (or all three), and they will make sure that the potential buyer gets to meet several of the neighbors. Some interested parties will select themselves out just hearing the invitation to learn more about the community; others will quickly learn what it is like to live there, and will realize either that it's not for them, or, more often, that it's just what they've been looking for.

As far as selling to the person "who offers the best price," I personally know of three situations where the seller did not accept the highest bid, but chose the offer of a person who seemed to fit best into the community.

You broaden your question at the end to include all intentional communities. Of course I cannot speak for communities other than cohousing, since I have little familiarity with them. But I can see how the concern you raise might well be more relevant to communities that share certain religious, social or political ideologies. Since in cohousing our only fully shared ideology is one of knowing our neighbors well, in some cases very well, we have only to support our departing neighbor in selling his, her or their home to someone else who really wants to be our neighbor, and who wants to participate fully in the community.

Joani Blank
Former Board Member, Coho/US
Co-Coordinator, 2006 Cohousing Conference