Re: organizing for affordable small house communities

[Marganne Meyer]

>It seems like there are quite a few people interested in this
>direction and I am wondering if there is enough to keep this
>conversation going somewhere - and progress with viable models. What
>do you all think?

I think you are right and the time is here or will be here soon to
make more substantial steps toward a pilot program. From my
perspective, the SHS includes people who have many common interests
(green housing, living smaller and simpler).

There are quite a few people who want to build on their own lot,
probably out in the country where building codes would be less of a
problem.

I think there is an increasing number of people who want to bring
small housing into a community -- maybe something closer to a
cohousing or intentional living project.

That's why the LCCH list was created. I'd sure like to develop models
that could work.

Cheers!
Marganne

[Ron]

There isn't much activity on this group and was wondering if there are
folks seriously interested in developing affordable small house
communities. I have been involved in green building for many years and
lived in intentional community for 10. I have been focusing my work
toward consulting with owner builders and am interested in helping in
any way I can to facilitate this direction - I think it is one of the
best ways to address affordable housing and simple living..

I have recently sold my house and am looking for a place to develop a
small community. I am also interested in engaging in the conversation
on a broader basis. I have also noticed that the Tiny House Village
has quite a few members but no activity. Also, another group has
started at:
http://resourcesforlife.ning.com/group/cottagecommunities

It seems like there are quite a few people interested in this
direction and I am wondering if there is enough to keep this
conversation going somewhere - and progress with viable models. What
do you all think?

Ron

Ron Czecholinski
www.diy-home-building.com
www.naturalchoiceinteriors.com

[E L Cobb]

I agree with Marganne that this subject is coming into the "fullness of
time."

Deciding between living in an intentional, or co-housing, type
community, and living alone on several acres but being part of
Community, is more difficult than I thought...

Having sold my house and pocketed the proceeds in order to pay for
whatever I decide on in cash, I am now reading up on small houses
(Susanka (sp) has a great series of books on the small house design,
dreaming, collecting promising looking links, and I guess, sooner rather
than later, beginning to search methodically for land and/or house in my
price range -- at first I was thinking Ithaca (where I moved after
selling my house), but I think I will extend my search to the
Appalachians between WVa and NY (I need cold winters)...

My dream also includes DIY -- doing as much by myself as I can, perhaps
learning by volunteering with Habitats for Humanity or some such.

Thanks for the links you included, Ron.

Liza

[lonewolf]

Just a plug for Habitat for Humanity: it's great experience to help on
a building team for awhile. Some areas have exclusive "women build"
projects.

Anne

[E L Cobb]

I've heard about those "women build" projects. what an extraordinarily
great idea! seems to me that working on one of those would be an ideal
symbiosis -- helping others through action and acquiring a skill set
that i could use to realize my own little dream of home...

[Ron]

I am looking at a lot next week in Sarasota Florida - I have had more
than enough winters living in Wisconsin most of my life. I am also
looking in Asheville, NC. area - I lived in Virginia for a number of
years and love the Appalachian / Blue Ridge mountain area. If you like
Ithaca you would probably like Asheville.

I am primarily looking for lots that will accommodate a cluster of 4
cottages - that seems doable in a variety of zoning regulations and
also something I could feasibly develop myself. I would love to find
folks to build - let me know if you have any interest in Asheville or
anywhere in the Virginias or Carolinas (I prefer a progressive artsy
town). Also, let me know if there are other ways I can help your
pursuits - I would love to focus my consulting with people wanting to
self develop and build in community.

Ron

[E L Cobb]

Asheville is very beautiful, I agree. Lots of connections with my
forebears there, and I have a cousin and a niece living there. Looked
at my first cohousing community there, mainly because I was visiting
already. The climate is way too warm for me.

Virginia is also very lovely. I lived in Virginia Beach, Alexandria,
Portsmouth, and Charlottesville from 1963 through 1976, and my two older
siblings never left Virginia once we moved there (Charlottesville and
Norfolk). My aged parents live on the Northern Neck in waterman
country. Alas, Virginia is also too hot in the summers and too warm in
the winters, and the chances of my buying or having built a home in cash
with the money from the sale of my townhouse are slim to none. Plus,
Virginia taxes federal pensions. So that's why I'm looking farther
north in the Appalachian chain...

[Hillary]

I would encourage people to take this wonderful conversation over to the private online community at tinyhousevillage.com. I much prefer it over getting long strings of discussion in my email or sensitive topics like money and location on a public web space. 

Membership is free, but I ask for a donation to defray my out-of-pocket costs for this monthly service. Believe me, I am not making the big bucks in this venture. I appreciate any and all support.

Thanks!
Hillary

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