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The PURPOSE of... PURPOSE

Tue, 18 May 2010 13:48:26 -0400

Twenty years ago I founded a publication titled Guide to Retirement Living Source Book to help individuals and families navigate the confusing maze of senior housing options and other services. Over the years I have visited over 500 different communities and have become all too familiar with statements like "I am not ready for that" or "I will never move to one of those communities," when referring to the choices that are available.

This has led me down a path to better understand why individuals are so resistant to make the move to these communities. In my quest for solutions I learned about cohousing, and my eyes have been opened to what an ideal solution it can be for not only our elders, but for all ages and abilities.

I had the good fortune of attending the Mid-Atlantic Cohousing Conference recently where I was able to meet and hear some leading experts speak about cohousing and ecovillages. Best of all was the opportunity to talk with individuals living in a variety of cohousing communities.

Speaking with Dene Peterson, founder and resident of ElderSpirit, a cohousing community in southern Virginia, opened my eyes to how cohousing can be more ideal than the current model of senior housing offerings.

Most retirement communities that I have visited are based on a "leisure model," where the residents are not expected to contribute to the community and are instead served by paid staff and services. Cohousing communities seem to follow a philosophy where each of the residents is expected to contribute to the operation of the community and to help support their neighbors. Dene shared how this can result in an additional sense of purpose for all residents of the community; it makes connecting to your neighbors easier, and it gives the residents a feeling of security in knowing that others care about them.

Let's hope that developers begin to move toward this platform. I personally feel that there is a large market of consumers looking for an alternative to a "cruise ship" lifestyle.

UBUNTU + COHOUSING: I Am Because We Are

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 08:46:53 -0500

Ubuntu is an African word meaning “humanity to others”, or “I am what I am because of who we all are." Ubuntu is an idea from African spirituality that means "I am because we are." That is, that we are all connected, that we cannot be ourselves without community. Each person’s health and faith is caught up in the well-being of others. Ubuntu is an ethic or humanist philosophy focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other. The word has its origin in the Bantu languages of southern Africa. Ubuntu is seen as a classical African concept.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu offered a longer definition: “A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed. One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.”
A positive component of the Ubuntu community concept is that we are all able to work together despite our differences in religion, politics, language, race, etc.. The African proverb “I am because we are and because we are therefore I am” is believed to reflect a worldview lived and embraced by African Americans; but not African Americans only.
Sounds a lot like cohousing to me. How about you?
UBUNTU
Minister Robert L. Brantley, M.B.A.
President, THE UNIVERSAL PEACEMAKERS FOUNDATION

SITE SELECTION: Making Informed Decisions Using Sustainable Sites Criteria

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 13:21:50 -0500

One of the big pitfalls that forming cohousing groups have stumbled into has involved emotional selection of project sites. Too often we hear unfortunate stories about individuals or groups who “fell in love” and purchased or became deeply attached to “beautiful” sites without considering whether or not it was suitable or feasible for the use they envisioned. These were difficult and very expensive lessons learned, not only in terms of dollars, but in loss of time, effort and social spirit within their group.
While most existing cohousing developments in the USA may be “sustainable” in terms of social criteria, not all projects are sustainable in terms of environmental criteria, which in turn may adversely affect both short-term financial feasibility and long-term economic and quality of life sustainability. If the mission of a forming community includes “living lightly on the land”, or in today’s parlance, “living more sustainably”, then it stands to reason that the community should consider site selection based on some rational criteria for sustainable land use.
The Sustainable Sites Initiative™ (SITE) Guidelines and Benchmarks is a rating system for land development and management modeled after the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED®’s rating system for green building. Among the prerequisite requirements of the SITE rating system are criteria related to selection of sites for development that “preserve existing resources and repair damaged systems.”
So, how can SITE Guidelines help forming cohousing groups make better, informed decisions about site selection?
SITE Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks:
PREREQUISITES:
• Limit development of soils designated as prime farmland, unique farmland, and farmland of statewide* importance
• Protect floodplain functions
• Preserve wetlands
• Preserve threatened or endangered species and their habitats
CREDITS:
• Select brownfields or greyfields for redevelopment
• Select sites within existing communities
• Select sites that encourage non-motorized transportation and use of public transit
(*In my opinion, this guideline should read of “regional” importance as soils types and ecosystems often cross jurisdictional boundaries)
Let’s briefly consider some of the rationale behind these rating criteria and how it relates to selecting a site for a ‘sustainable’ cohousing project:
Limit development of soils designated as prime farmland. Unless your community group is committed (in perpetuity) to productive farming, this may be translated into: thou shalt not squander limited land resources by contributing to “bedroom sprawl development” of valuable agricultural lands. Some jurisdictions have land use or zoning regulations that preclude or discourage development of agricultural land. If the site is in a rural location, there are significant environmental, economic, and human quality of life impacts such as costs of providing infrastructure (utilities, water & sewer, sanitation, roads, transportation, schools, fire & health emergency services, etc) such that development (whether cohousing or otherwise) places a significant burden on sustainability objectives. If the location is remote from job centers and basic services, the environmental, economic, and human costs of commuter lifestyles places a significant burden on sustainability objectives.
Protect floodplain functions. Preserve wetlands. Preserve threatened and endangered species and their habitats. While there are technical solutions for overcoming problems of developing in low-lying lands that are prone to flooding, it is very costly in both short term financial cost and long term economic sustainability. Many regulatory jurisdictions preclude development not only in the floodplain, but within a defined buffer area around floodplains as well because they, along with wetlands, are ecosystems that serve critical environmental health functions such as stabilization of soils and protection of water quality. Floodplains and wetlands are also habitat areas for unique flora and fauna communities that have an integral role in balancing the greater regional and even planetary ecosystem. We have in this decade, seen the devastating human and economic cost of building in areas prone to flooding, mudslides, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. Common sense logic would have it that development in such areas does not qualify as sustainable land use.
Select brownfields for redevelopment. Select sites within existing communities. Cohousing is a concept that is well suited to being part of the solution in redevelopment and revitalization of existing neighborhoods, villages, towns and cities or as part of “Smart” mass transit-oriented development initiatives. Among the most lauded, valued, and as time will likely prove, ‘sustainable’ cohousing communities are the ones who selected urban infill or environmental problem sites (such as adaptive reuse of former warehouses). Cohousing has the potential for being part of the solution.
Select sites that encourage non-motorized transportation and use of public transit. Among the characteristics that defines cohousing is the purposeful disconnect from the automobile (“the car is not a member of the family”) in favor of people connecting environments that facilitate social interaction among neighbors, whether planned or serendipitous.
How do you determine whether the site(s) you are considering meet criteria for sustainability?
Well, here is where I put in a pitch for my profession - Get professional guidance from qualified and knowledgeable experts EARLY. These are folks who have the knowledge, experience, tools and methods to assess site opportunities and constraints across multiple considerations; an analysis known as, due diligence. Due diligence includes an assessment of a prospective site across 5 key aspects: Legal, financial, physical, market, and social.
Words to the Wise: Make informed decisions: do due diligence before you commit emotionally or financially to any potential site! There is not a site on this planet that anyone needs so badly that they can afford to bypass due diligence.
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