tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354001803652449990.post7647771272492396818..comments2023-04-26T04:54:01.585-07:00Comments on Stories of the Aquarian Revolution: #53A Messengerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446320618865143362noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354001803652449990.post-85184825596725212102007-10-15T12:21:00.000-07:002007-10-15T12:21:00.000-07:00Thanks Raines for your comment and favorable opini...Thanks Raines for your comment and favorable opinion regarding these interviews. I continue to seek a publisher!A Messengerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06446320618865143362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354001803652449990.post-13517641854178249372007-10-15T09:16:00.000-07:002007-10-15T09:16:00.000-07:00Thanks for sharing this person's comments about co...Thanks for sharing this person's comments about <A HREF="http://www.cohousing.org/" REL="nofollow">cohousing</A>.<BR/><BR/>I've been involved in creating/living in cohousing neighborhoods here in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past decade, and involved in the national movement leadership, and I'm curious about whether this person has taken further steps to create cohousing during that time... I know some <A HREF="http://www.ic.org/" REL="nofollow">intentional community</A> activists in the Fayetteville area, and a mailing list for Northwest Arkansas community.<BR/><BR/>Chuck Durrett, who helped bring cohousing from Denmark to the U.S., notes that when you get beyond 34 units or so, it gets hard to know your neighbors as well, so larger ecovillages like the one in <A HREF="http://http://www.ecovillage.ithaca.ny.us" REL="nofollow">Ithaca</A>, N.Y. are broken into smaller neighborhoods; the largest single cohousing neighborhood I know of has 66 units. The one I live in has just 15 and feels small, where it's hard to get the work done when people participate less for whatever personal reasons.<BR/><BR/>As to the history, my recent understanding is that the Denmark folks creating cohousing were inspired by U.S. communes and coops.<BR/><BR/>While the original movement has been called "communes for Dentists" since the market-rate housing it creates can indeed start or become expensive, but the movement has been taking great strides to incorporate affordability, through creative strategies like silent second mortgages, Habitat for Humanity partnerships, and the like.<BR/><BR/>The big recent growth area for the movement has been in senior cohousing (sometimes called "elder cohousing"), people co-creating neighborhoods that support aging-in-place and taking care of each other to maintain independence and stay out of nursing homes. I'm working on helping people in this process.<BR/><BR/>Will you be publishing these stories in print? It seems like you've got a book here. Perhaps with your own stories thrown in the mix. Thanks for sharing these!<BR/><BR/><BR/>Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach<BR/>Planning for Sustainable Communities<BR/>Berkeley, CARaineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18276056032056918370noreply@blogger.com