Co-housing project vs. eco-village project

[Loren Bergeson]

This article in the NY Times is pretty interesting:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/abandoning-an-attempt-to-create-an-urban-village/?scp=6&sq=alternative+housing&st=cse

The group from New York sounds a lot like the approach Kathryn McCamant described at BSU last week.  That approach will require financing from our beloved banking system -- that may be a dependency we can't afford.

I wonder if we could start an eco-village community instead with less money, and just pay for costs over time with cash?  Of course, the housing wouldn't be near as nice as what Kathryn showed us, but I don't know if the financial system will recover any time soon enough, making a Kathryn-type project feasible.

My current vision (subject to change) is that the eco-village might only have a few people living there full time, and other investors would live and work there on the weekends and holidays, possibly moving in later should the need or opportunity arise.

Does this approach make sense to anyone else?

[Ann]

Interesting article.  Thank you for bringing it to our attention. While Kathryn's presentation was uber positive and encouraging, it's certainly not the whole story.  It'd also be good to hear more about what goes wrong and why.  And I'd also appreciate hearing about the challenges of this kind of living community from someone who has been there. 

My exposure to co-housing is limited to the expensive, designer places on the front range of Colorado.  The other end of the spectrum, it seems, is eco-village living.  These tend to be places on the outskirts, or even quite a ways out of town, where land is cheaper, and where there may be more flexibility in terms of code and building design.  But being on the outskirts doesn't seem practical or low-tread for people who are tied to employment in town. 

The idea of gradual, organic growth is interesting.  I'd like to hear more about how that would work.  Maybe at the follow-up meeting...?

[Loren Bergeson]

If we end up on the outskirts, I wonder if it would be possible to get within biking distance of a bus stop?  If not, we'd need to have at least one family with a mini-van that could provide car-pool transport to in-town employment.

I too hope we have a good airing of ideas at the follow-up meeting on November 10.