> Bill Bartlett wrote:
>
> "Anyhow, take a look at the new website of my little
> country housing co-op (excuse the bugs, I'm new at
> this.) Oops. this might help:
> http://people.aapt.net.au/~william7/Welcome.html"
Co-ops are one model of an alternative, but leftists can't exactly point to them as a model if they don't live in them or help create more housing options.
I've been working on a cooperative housing project for the past two years with friends here in KC. We want to buy an apartment building in midtown KCMO and turn it into a cooperative. Unfortunately, it's probably easier to go get a professional job and get a morgage for single family home than it is to set up a limited equity co-op. Our project has been on the back burner for some time, mostly because we all are busy trying to survive from day-to-day, but also because we don't have any capital and because the legal process is so daunting. We've done all the paperwork we can do at this point without legal assistance. If we continue, we'll have to hire a lawyer to help us navigate Missouri nonprofit laws and the IRS tax codes that affect us. And who knows what kind of reaction we will get from the banks.
What a big headache! It's so much easier to make accomodations with the existing system, and just become another part of the atmoized suburban masses.
Chuck