While Pacific Gardens still was under construction, we shareholder / developers used to discuss our vision of what it would be like to live in cohousing.
Kathryn recounted her experience of living in a housing cooperative* in London, Ontario. She said it had been a really cool place. It was a hub of interesting and fun activities, not just for the people who lived there, but for the larger community as well. She envisaged that Pacific Gardens would play a similar role in Nanaimo.
When I saw the March issue of The Bloomin’ News, the newsletter that Sharon publishes, it brought home to me the fact that Kathryn’s dream had come true. Just check out a month in the life of Pacific Gardens; in this case it was February 2013:
3 birthday parties, the youngest 1, the oldest 83
1 NVC [Non-Violent Communication] workshop
seeds have sprouted in cold frames
Family Sing
2 residents got pneumonia
at least one "Ladies Night" get together
Nanaimo Green Party AGM
a flood [involving the central hot water heater]
someone learned a new magic trick
someone went nude bungee jumping [offsite, at the Nanaimo River!]
one Qi Gong lesson
4 men's group sessions
work progressed in "front yard" by pond
a fun group game of Encore [described in Kathryn's blog post entitled With A Song in My Heart]
we successfully defended the community against Smart Meters for the 4th time [Proud Members of Team Tinfoil and Team Tinfoil Stands Firm]
3 pairs of ducks nested
a small walking club began
we purchased 20 new chairs for the dining hall
8 yoga classes
the floor seams were repaired
the snowdrops and crocus bloomed
1500 plus people viewed one of our Facebook posts!
5 community meetings
4 meditation sessions
a community circle
a book club meeting
4 community potlucks [you are welcome to join us for our potlucks at 6:00 pm on Thursdays]
1 Council of Canadians meeting
the garden was visited by several deer
2 residents were hospitalized
the frogs began singing
potholes [in the parking lot] were refilled
neighbours enjoyed each other
the community got stronger
What modest Sharon did not include in her list was that a useful newsletter was published to help residents keep on top of what was going on. Thank you, Sharon!
* For the sake of clarity, there are some technical differences between a cohousing complex and a housing cooperative, but in practical terms there are many similarities.
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