Cob "A Pattern Language"

[Paul Valerio]

Jeffrey Kirsch wrote:

>  "A Pattern Language",

> Also very helpful in finding that
> new neighborhood. Some places just aren't very hospitable, and
> this book will tell you why. And for the really ambitious, it has
> design guidelines for communities and subcultures (cob
> community anyone?)
>


Jeffrey,  could you very briefly describe what the book says about why
some places aren't very hospitable?  I think the biggest source of
frustration for me on my cob quest is "community".  I don't want to be a
hermit (anymore).  And it really bothers me how the flight to the country
by most urban/suburbanites is nothing more than urban sprawl on a huge
scale.  I may be forced to be a hermit because nobody else seems to want
the same thing that I do, or at least they can't or won't put in the
effort to make it happen.  (maybe I'm included in that bunch).  Where and
how can cobbers create some sense of community in there efforts?  I think
that ideally (under present societal conditions)  enough people could
move to a small town (maybe even a ghost town!)  take it over and start a
cob village, with not just houses but businesses, schools, churches,
etc.  Initially it would work if enough self-employed people (artists,
writers, techies, etc.) grouped together and built a new village
somewhere.  Maybe that's what these intentional communites are trying to
do.

Anyway, that hits the nail on the head for me.  Will I be the lone-cobber
among a bunch of suburban infidels, also doing my part to trample down
yet another few acres of beauty or can enough people pool together to
build a fully functioning community that preserves the earth and provides
for the needs of us humans?

Delirious Paul