Community Living

Comment

Comment by Adam Spoerri on February 18, 2011 at 10:42am

I have thought about this before and I love the idea. Sweet Water is also starting one. Along that line of thought I think it would be great to rehab an old factory into a communal living "village". It would have many environmental benefits and be for more unique and interesting. I am an architecture student by the way, so if anyone is interesting i can go into more details about why rehab of the factory would be the most environmentally friendly approach.

Comment by Chris Terbrueggen on January 20, 2011 at 10:58am

Community Living Options Group Discussion
March 8,  6:30 pm
Urban Ecology Center , Riverside Park


Greetings,

One of the founding principles of cooperative housing is equitable
ownership. Join us for an in-depth discussion about cooperative finance
in Milwaukee.


I have invited David Sparer and Rebecca Nole to participate in this discussion. We will focus on options that can work in Milwaukee. We
will also discuss the successes and challenges of establishing these
models.  Here is some background info on the guests. I also wanted to
pass along two important links that would be helpful to read before
attending. Thanks, Chris Terbrueggen


David Sparer
Herrick & Kasdorf, LLP

David Sparer (aka Rosebud) has been an attorney in Madison Wisconsin since 1979. He lived
in a housing coop for 17 years. During the more than 30 years he has
been an attorney he has focused on representing and assisting
cooperatives and non-profits. He has assisted housing coops, grocery
coops, farmer coops, and worker coops, with everything from initial
organizing, negotiating leases, litigation, contract negotiations, to
purchasing or selling real estate, and dealing with zoning issues.
During this time he represented non-profit organizations in obtaining
non-profit status, including non-profit status for housing coops all
over the country, and property tax exemption in Madison.


Rebecca Nole,  North American Students of Cooperation Board President
Inter-Cooperative Council-Ann Arbor alumna Milwaukee, WI

With housing coop experience ranging from President, to Education, Finance,
and Membership, Rebecca Nole has spent the past ten years living and
working cooperatively and is currently pursuing her masters degree in
Urban Studies and Non-Profit Business Management. In those capacities,
and since, she has learned techniques for organizing and orchestrating
trainings of different scales and catered to different groups ranging
from house officers to new Board of Directors. Her most favorite time
of year is NASCO Institute when coopers from all over the globe descend
on Ann Arbor to meet, greet and share. With strong backgrounds in Board
relations, Officer trainings, Education, reporting and problem solving
she is looking forward to another Institute.



What is a Housing Cooperative?
http://www.coophousing.org/DisplayPage.aspx?id=122&bMenu=76&...

Different Models for Housing Cooperatives
http://www.nasco.coop/development/node/4561

Comment by Mark Gill on January 19, 2011 at 6:59pm

Greetings Mary,

Let me assure you that sharing is natural and the inverse seems like "culture shock" to me now after living in community for a time.  Small Communities or villages is how people have lived throughout the ages and once you experience it, I think most will feel that our current individual experience is a sad and lonely one.  The richness of a life shared should be accessible to all and is good for people, planet and pocketbook.

Comment by Mary Aguilu on January 19, 2011 at 5:37pm

It makes abundant sense to hold certain resources in common.  Not every home needs that lawnmower, or snowblower, convenience appliance or car.  Sharing living space, bathrooms, etc. can be a hard social culture shock, but can also be deeply rewarding.  I always envisioned acreage and growing/raising food for our own sustenance, and sustaining the greater community with our surplus.  Starting where we are, though, what are others in this group thinking?

Comment by Rachel Gross on May 10, 2010 at 9:41pm

Hey communitarians, I am trying to form a core group of people interested in creating an intentional community/ housing co-op in Milwaukee. The group is starting to form but we need more people and ideas and energy! I have posted a craigslist ad which contains a basic description of what I'm looking for. (http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/grp/1715616843.html) This also exists as a paper flyer and most of the people who have expressed interest so far were responding to the flyer. Please contact me if you think you might be interested!