Cob "A Pattern Language"

[douglas scheffer]

Paul_

I can really relate to your thoughts on hermitting. I did it for several
years in the mountains outside of Boulder CO. although the experience was a
great introduction to independent living, I could not deal with the
isolation.

I think most of us in this news group dream of living in an ideal community
that is conscience and places emphasis on an earthbound existence with the
interaction of neighbors presiding over central air conditioning units, TV
reception, accessibility of cars and driveways, shrubs & fences acting as
lines of demarcation.

I've been reading a great deal on co-housing communities lately and I think
this concept will interest you. It's catching on here in the Seattle area.
Though I am not sure if any of them are based on earth structures. (i'm
looking into it.) I have to admit I was always mislead by the name. I
thought co-housing was some sort of group housing movement. It's actually
about designing communities characterized by a heightened sensitivity to
living with each other as neighbors not roommates. There is usually a
central park or square and cars are kept on the peripheral. Gatherings, pot
lucks and other events also come into play here.

I am saving $ for my retreat into a cob house and I hope to foster
connections with others that share my concerns for a living in a co-housing
like community. I'd like to invite you and anyone else interested in
discusing this further to e.mail me.

I can only imagine the nightmare of building a few earth homes and inviting
my suburban/ subdivision friends to move in. (better then being alone??)

douglas
>
>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