Post date: Sep 13, 2014 10:22:38 PM
Why I chose a residential community. This was written to the community after the August 2014 meeting discussing the Valverde Commons web site.
Here are some of the things I am attracted to when I have looked at co-housing communities. They might also be attractive to others, and possibly suitable for inclusion in the Valverde web site.
I start with community - a group of people with something in common - because I find community more important than residence (I have lived in hovels, but never as a hermit), but also consider residences, because I have wanted to build for decades and even went to architecture school (however briefly). I have lived in community (up to three months at a time), prayed in community (for fifty years), hiked in community (every weekend for a year and sporadically before and after), and worked in community.
I don’t like to see my tools just sit in the basement unused most of the time. I would like others to have ready access to them. Conversely, rather than having to buy a new tool, I would like to be able to easily borrow or rent it when I need it.
I would prefer to eat the meals that someone else cooks, and wash their pots and dishes in return. When we lived in Boston we had a dinner coop. Four of us (Carol and I plus two single women) rotated who cooked and where we ate. I washed. I also made a ball gown for Candy, after all four of us went design shopping for ideas at Filene’s.
This includes child-rearing, either across families or across generations. While that is not possible at Valverde it is something I value highly. I took my grand-nephew camping for over ten years and taught my God-daughter how to drive.
I like the idea of not having to build a living room big enough for all our visitors. Being able to share common living and entertaining space reduces the need for private space and allows for the entire community to have shared facilities that no one family could afford.
Similarly, shared workshop is a blessing for artists and artisans with special tools such as a kiln or table saw.
Sharing each others joys and sorrows is an important social blessing. This is much easier if your friends live next door or a short walk across the common.
Work together
I like working with other people so that we can accomplish something that none of us could do alone (at least in the allotted time). This might be sweaty work, like cleaning a ditch or removing weeds, or it might be brainy work, like designing web site content or a dress. With brainy work the result is always better than any one of us could produce alone.
Other people have talents that I lack. I like to be able to lean on others to make up for my deficiencies. Likewise, I have talents that others need, and I like to use my talents for the benefit of others. I am lousy at managing people but a good mechanic and good at driving tasks to completion.
For years my wife would have design ideas that I would execute. Without her ideas (which we refined together) and my construction, none of our remodeling, interior decorating, gardening, or fabric art projects would have been possible.
Outside focus
I prefer a community that has a goal outside itself. That might be improving the environment, helping those less well-off, or building an art museum. Communities that become overly engaged in internal community-building soon wither. (But building community is critical in the early periods and incorporating new members is a crucial, continuing task.)
Residence
I like to learn new building techniques and styles. The Santa Fe style and adobe construction are completely different from what I learned in Washington State (while working for the tree-growing company) or the timber construction of Germany and New England. I have observed construction techniques in Africa, Mexico, and Nicaragua - both old and new.
Passive Solar
I prefer passive methods because they are simpler and tend to be more robust. Taos receives sufficient sunlight to heat both the house and hot water. It also could contribute to solar electricity, except that this technology is not yet economically self-sustaining (without subsidies and storage).
Water Conservation
New Mexico is very dry, and conserving our resources is important to me. Rainfall is sporadic here.
Outdoor Living
I like to be able to live outdoors, where I can see the birds and hear the bees up close. I prefer fruit freshly picked from my own bushes and trees. I like grubbing around in the dirt, pulling weeds and rocks from the garden.
Nearby Amenities
I like to be able to walk to the grocer, coffee shop, restaurant, post office. While I like driving, I prefer to walk a quarter-hour. I like trading with local merchants.