Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!dreaderd!not-for-mail
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Supersedes: <[email protected]>
Expires: 31 May 2004 11:22:46 GMT
X-Last-Updated: 1994/07/12
From: [email protected] (Thomas Boutell)
Newsgroups: alt.housing.nontrad,alt.answers,news.answers
Subject: alt.housing.nontrad Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Summary: What alt.housing.nontrad is about! READ BEFORE POSTING
Followup-To: alt.housing.nontrad
Distribution: world
Organization: Nerdsholm
Approved: [email protected]
Originator: [email protected]
Date: 17 Apr 2004 11:23:56 GMT
Lines: 228
NNTP-Posting-Host: penguin-lust.mit.edu
X-Trace: 1082201036 senator-bedfellow.mit.edu 576 18.181.0.29
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu alt.housing.nontrad:2779 alt.answers:72445 news.answers:269648

Archive-name: housing-nontrad-faq
Last-modified: 1994/06/01
Posting-frequency: weekly

  _NEW VERSION!_ Thanks to those who have helped to alleviate my
  ignorance. (To those who were unhappy with the first FAQ, I
  respectfully point out that no more knowledgeable soul had attempted
  to start one.)

            ALT.HOUSING.NONTRAD FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

Contents

    * 1: What's This Group?
         + 1.1: Can I post looking for a roommate here? (NO!)
         + 1.2: Then what is this newsgroup about?
         + 1.3: Where can I find the latest FAQ?
         + 1.4: Where is this group archived?
    * 2: Cohousing
         + 2.1: What is cohousing?
         + 2.2: Isn't that exclusive? Sounds like a subdivision.
         + 2.3: What examples of cohousing groups can you point to?
         + 2.4: Where else can I read about cohousing?
    * 3: Nontraditional Houses
         + 3.1: Where can I learn about nontraditional houses?

1: What's This Group?

  1.1: Can I post looking for a [summer sublet, roommate, etc] here?
         NO. THIS IS A WORLDWIDE NEWSGROUP. People in Sao Paulo, Brazil,
         have LITTLE TO NO interest in your desire for a summer sublet
         in Nice, France. Thank you. Use a newsgroup local to your
         facility or geographical area!

  1.2: Then what is alt.housing.nontrad about?
         This group was formed to discuss nontraditional housing. I had
         new ideas such as cohousing (see below) in mind when I created
         it. The group is meant for discussion of both alternative
         _households_ (multigenerational housing, which was once the
         norm, multifamily housing with shared recreational spaces, even
         Nerd Houses...) and alternative _houses_ (which I didn't have
         in mind at first, but I agree they're perfectly relevant to the
         group).

  1.3: Where can I find the latest FAQ?
         It's posted automatically to the newsgroup on a regular basis;
         you can also find it on the World Wide Web at the URL
         <http://siva.cshl.org/~boutell/nth_faq.html>.

  1.4: Where is this group archived?
         This group is archived on the FTP site sunsite.unc.edu. FTP to
         that site (see comp.unix.questions if you need help with FTP)
         and do the following commands (thanks to Larry London):


cd pub/academic/environment/alternative-energy/miscellaneous
cd discussion-groups/newsgroups
cd alt.housing.nontrad



2: Cohousing

  2.1: What is cohousing?
         The following is drawn from the welcome message of the
         COHOUSING-L mailing list (described later in this FAQ):

         Cohousing is the name of a type of collaborative housing that
         has been developed primarily in Denmark since 1972 where it is
         known as bofoellesskaber (English approximation...) . It is
         characterized by:

       Private dwellings
               Typically each dwelling contains a kitchen, living-dining
               room and one or more bedrooms and baths, but the layout
               of the home is reshuffled to reflect community priorities
               - placing most used areas of home so they have a view of
               and easy access to the pedestrian street.

       Extensive common facilities
               The common building is designed for daily use, to
               supplement private living areas. The common building may
               include such facilities as a large dining room including
               a commercial style kitchen, lounges, meeting rooms,
               recreation facilities, library, workshops, childcare.

       Participatory process
               Residents organize and participate in the planning and
               design process for the development and are responsible as
               a group for all final decisions.

       Intentional Neighborhood design
               The physical design itself encourages a strong sense of
               community (as opposed to isolation) and facilitates
               social contact.

       Complete Resident Management
               Residents manage the community making decisions of common
               concern at community meetings.

       Pragmatic social goals

             Unlike collective and intentional communities, Cohousing
                     retains the privacy and autonomy of the household
                     but strengthens the family by creating supportive
                     social networks and sharing certain daily tasks.

                     The typical Cohousing community has 20 to 30 single
                     family homes along a pedestrian street or clustered
                     around a pedestrian court yard. The individual
                     homes may resemble townhouses. Cars are kept on the
                     periphery of the area. The common building is
                     located centrally, often situated so it is passed
                     when entering the community. Residents of cohousing
                     communities often have several optional group meals
                     in the common building each week.

       2.2: Isn't that exclusive? Sounds like a subdivision.
               Jim Ratliff tells us:

               Affordable housing is a major challenge. But it's not the
               challenge that cohousing is addressing. Cohousing
               shouldn't be criticized for the problems it does NOT
               solve, but rather should be praised for the problems it
               DOES attempt to solve.

               Of course, SOMEONE has to pay extra to allow those with
               less money (i.e. can't pay their share) to participate.
               Those in my group are neither rich nor poor, but
               hopefully have just barely enough to barely make it work
               for them. They certainly aren't well-off enough to
               subsize others. There's no magic bullet for affordable
               housing: Someone has to pay in the end. To ask for
               subsidization for poorer members is to require the
               existence of richer members--the exclusivity problem
               persists!

       2.3: What examples of cohousing groups can you point to?
               Once again, Jim Ratliff to the rescue:

               You can get a list from:


The Cohousing Company
1250 Addison St. #113
Berkeley CA 94702
(510) 549-9980

       There's also a list in the Cohousing Resource Guide, described in
               the next section.

       2.4: Where else can I read about cohousing?
               References provided by Larry London:

               First another electronic resource: there is a cohousing
               mailing list. Send mail to [email protected] with the
               following line in the BODY of the message (no subject
               line needed):

               subscribe COHOUSING-L myname

               (_Information about the Cohousing Resource Guide provided
               originally by Rob Sandelin_)

               The cohousing resource guide will be available in March
               of this year. It is produced by the Puget Sound Cohousing
               Network, and compiled and edited largely by me.

               The Cohousing Resource Guide is a 50+ page collection of
               experiences, advice and learning from several of the
               cohousing groups in our region who have built projects.
               It includes information about group process and dynamics,
               finding a site, some begining design issues to think
               about, and a bunch of other info. It also includes
               references to books, tapes and cohousing groups and
               people. It is designed in a three ring binder format to
               be cheap and easy to annually update as new resources and
               advice gets shared.

               To order a copy send $6 (This covers our printing and
               mailing costs) to


Rob Sandelin
22020 East Lost Lake Rd.
Snohomish, WA  98290



               Reference provided by Art Mulder:

               _Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing
               Ourselves_-- 2nd ed._ Kathryn M. McCamant and Charles R.
               Durrett and Ellen Hertzman, 1994, Ten Speed Press, Post
               Office Box 7123, Berkeley, CA 94707. $29.95. 22 cm x 24.5
               cm (8.5" x 9.5") , 288 pages, Paperback is (aqua) green.

               More from Larry London:

               There also a monthly magazine, viz. "Cohousing Magazine,"
               which I believe costs $25/year (comes out quarterly I
               think). Write to: The CoHousing Network P.O. Box 2584
               Berkeley CA 94702

3: Nontraditional Houses

  3.1: Where can I learn about nontraditional houses?
         There is a newsgroup about this subject,
         alt.architecture.alternative. In addition, the following wisdom
         is provided by Larry London, with minor editing by me:

         There is information about this and many other topics at
         sunsite.unc.edu. Check out the ftp directory:

         pub/academic/environment/alternative-energy/miscellaneous

         on sunsite.unc.edu and try the following (if you need basic
         information about FTP please read news.announce.newusers and
         comp.unix.questions):

         cd faqs

         or


cd discussion-groups/newsgroups
  cd alt.architecture.alternative

You are viewing proxied material from ftp.icm.edu.pl. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.