Comments on: Good Investments for Successful Housing

By: Patrick Enders

Patrick Enders — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:57:44 +0000

Apparently, any comment I try to post in this thread that contains
(even an unembedded) HTML address just disappears into the ether.

There’s an interesting article series at the Strib titled “From Boom to Bust.”

Part 1 is titled “Minnesota’s New Ghost Towns.”

I’d link to it if I could.

By: Patrick Enders

Patrick Enders — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:54:02 +0000

This is getting silly. Will this post appear?

By: Mary Rossing

Mary Rossing — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 22:13:11 +0000

Well great Bruce! Let’s have a drink. Actually I didn’t have that impression from your blog, but from the other links –all good examples of intentional living and food for thought. But, we can do it better (because, of course, we are so special here in Northfield, don’t cha know) Put another sustainably harvested log on the fire.

By: Bruce Anderson

Bruce Anderson — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:27:38 +0000

Mary,
I’m actually much more interested in a bottle of wine (or homebrew, or some good bourbon on occasion) and good conversation with friends and neighbors than in a peace-and-justice-themed community meal, and a hot tub sounds great as long as it’s fired by sustainably harvested on-site wood!

No need to assume that a cohousing group would be composed of Kumbaya-singing or furrowed-brow earnest folks. I’m way into fun!

By: Mary Rossing

Mary Rossing — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 20:33:04 +0000

Thanks for the links, Bruce and Anne. All very interesting. It’s a subtle thing that I can’t quite put my finger on that separates many of these intentional communities from what I want, but I think both could probably work in Northfield. It’s the difference between sitting in a hot tub talking about life over a bottle of wine with friends/neighbors vs. sharing a community meal with a peace and justice theme. While both have qualities like shared amenities and have made use of alternative and green technologies, and are built with the idea of community…one just sounds more fun to me (and the other sounds better to other folks, I suppose) Anyway, Bruce, I love that you are talking about this on the gorgeous property near Dundas. I can’t make the meeting on the 30th, but keep us informed! And if there are any builders out there who would like to get a single woman’s view on what to build for the single, post baby boom retirees, let’s talk.

By: Bruce Anderson

Bruce Anderson — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:08:18 +0000

Mary (comment #2),
I encourage you to check out the blog I posted yesterday (”Cohousing: A new living option in the Northfield area?”; http://www.sustainablecommunitysolutions.com/index.php/2008/04/17/cohousing-a-new-living-opportunity-in-the-northfield-area/). Cohousing has a lot of the features that you’re talking about, with a strong emphasis on community, clustered housing, and shared facilities (including a largish community house with space for communal dining and parties, kid hang-out space, library, workshop, rooms for visitors to stay in, etc.)

I’ll be holding an exploratory meeting on April 30th to discuss a possible local cohousing project. Check out the blog post for details.

By: Anne Bretts

Anne Bretts — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:36:12 +0000

And Mary, I know women who might be interested in the idea, so you may find it easy to recruit some like-minded people and work with a builder to create a model to test out here.

By: Anne Bretts

Anne Bretts — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:16:07 +0000

Mary, there is a movement that reflects your interests. The Intentional Communities group has a website and magazine that track the many variations of cohousing going on around the world. They range from sharing a house to building a cluster of cottages with common kitchens and community spaces. You can check out the ideas at http://www.ic.org/

By: kiffi summa

kiffi summa — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:32:02 +0000

Well, maybe since the city council sometimes overrules the PC, and the staff often finds it difficult to speak to the issues raised by citizens at public hearings, (I’m thinking of woodley re: bike lanes and stop signs) or in that case, also work harder with Rice County, then maybe just everyday citizens who care about what this Comp Plan says for their community need to keep commenting to the PC and the City Council.

The Community Development Director said to the council in last weeks work session that the time for public input was long over, BUT, what happens if the final product does not reflect the majority of comment from the big , and small, public meetings?

There will have to be another time for public comment at the time the Comp plan is approved/ accepted.

I think the Planning Commission would appreciate public support for the work they have done.

By: Mary Rossing

Mary Rossing — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:27:43 +0000

It’s not only a suburban vs urban thing when we look at Northfield. Something I realized recently as a looked at the possibility of a scaled down life style in the next ten or so years is that there are no homes/town homes/condos here yet that I would be interested in living in. I am a single woman with no children, and none of the developments so far interest me. If a builder were to ask me what I want here is my dream: A small ring of town homes and condos that share amenities and open up onto a shared patio with built-in fire pit, hot tub and perhaps a small pool. I could see many of my women friends owning around the complex and we could spend the evenings enjoying each other’s company in the shared patio space. We could also have a shared exercise and project room nearby with a work bench and sturdy table for crafty and fixy type things could happen. With these shared amenities the condos/townhomes could be smaller and less expensive, therefore our quality of life could be higher as we move into retirement. Plus we would have built-in community with others looking out for us, and others to watch our places while on vacation. Talk about missing the trends…or maybe we’ll just need to take a mcmansion and condo it out.

By: Tracy Davis

Tracy Davis — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:10:46 +0000

Ross, I think you pulled your punches too much on this one. The Atlantic article is excellent, and points out many macro and micro trends with immediate relevance to Northfield, both in terms of our strengths and possible weaknesses. Loved the article photo:

It seems ironic that just as the tide appears to be turning, when both the private and public sector is figuring out that the cumulative decisions about site planning, connectivity, environment and architecture can result in a better or worse built environment (read: more or less saleable, more or less sustainable), Northfield seem hell-bent on ignoring these demographic and economic trends and continues to follow the path of least resistance: The discredited "suburban model" of growth.