a bit of a search

[mrsbrown]

Without enough work to do today, and stuff I want to do at work tomorrow, I'm taking my rdo now.

I'm going to go shopping for fabric for my tudor frock ( I love Brunswick) and then I'm coming home to do the sewing of my corset I didn't get to do on the w/e.

Richmond houses - $310-360, including one very close to me: http://www.domain.com.au/listing.aspx?mode=rent&id=3620640

doushkasmum type accomodation - rent = $150

splodgenoodles type accommodation = $260, I think.

total rental money available = $720

so we need to find places at $240 ish.

Like these:

http://www.domain.com.au/listing.aspx?mode=rent&id=3576460
http://www.domain.com.au/listing.aspx?mode=rent&id=3630708
http://www.domain.com.au/listing.aspx?mode=rent&id=3618805
http://www.domain.com.au/listing.aspx?mode=rent&id=3618779
http://www.domain.com.au/listing.aspx?mode=rent&id=3614512 - this one is definitely with 2 min of train station - the train line is across the road!!!
http://www.domain.com.au/listing.aspx?mode=rent&id=3602366
http://www.domain.com.au/listing.aspx?mode=rent&id=3589506
http://www.domain.com.au/listing.aspx?mode=rent&id=3615997 (the answer is separate lock up garage)
http://www.domain.com.au/listing.aspx?mode=rent&id=3567084

I searched through:

brunswick, northcote, fairfield, alphington, preston, thornbury, coburg, moonee ponds, footscray, richmond, caulfield, essendon, ascot vale, hawthorn, kew, balwyn

Comments

[sjkasabi.livejournal.com]

I really don't know whether or not I'm interested in doing this. In some possible versions I am, very. In others, not at all. And it's not the physical organisation stuff that will make the difference. It's the goals and the expectations and the routines we decide we have around it. All that needs to be sorted out before we work out which houses we're buying/renting/building.

I'd seriously love us all to be neighbours. Including neighbours who as a totality form a body corporate to administer our strata title property. I'm even quite interested in the shared workshop/facilities bit. The rest of the communal stuff - maybe. BUt first I want to know exactly what other people want. And how it matches with what I want. Yes, I'd love to have kids around and participate in bringing them up to a certain extent. No I don't want to live in an alternatively structured "family" where the preferences of parents and their personal beliefs about how their children's needs need to be reflected in the use of communal finances and space will trump the preferences and needs of me as a person with no biological children every single time, whether by default or by virtue of being outnumbered on the committee. It sounds like a great way to become the postmodern version of the despised Victorian unmarried auntie tolerated for only for her domestic contribution to me. And no, I don't want to be a single mother in today's world, with only an invented non-biological 'family' that can splinter at any moment and which the legal system does not recognise as my backup (and by the time experience proved the stability of our creation, I'd be about up to menopause). And what if I did hook up with someone, who wasn't up for the rest of it? (Or doushasmum did?) Communal life vs boyfriend choices would be quite major, with the sort of financial and emotional investments you are talking about.

I should also point out here that you feel good about families, and see them as a good model for all sorts of social organisation. That's nice. I kinda wish I did; I'd like to believe in God too. However my own entrenched emotional associations with family life are about emotionally destructive environments and unjust and damaging power relations. This doesn't mean I'm not interested in thinking about possible living and child rearing arrangements, and working hard to make them not like that. It does mean that conceptualising the possibilities as "it's like a family except for the bits that aren't" does not make me feel good about the prospects at a gut level. Yes, I got personal issues, we all know that, but these are actually the kind of community-organisation issues that most utopian communities founder on, too. If you seriously want it to have even a chance of working, we need to work them out.

I honestly think we should all talk this sort of stuff out properly before investing too much excitement in the property game.

[mrsbrown.livejournal.com]

I honestly think we should all talk this sort of stuff out properly before investing too much excitement in the property game.

I agree completely.

However, I'm excited, I had some time while I ate my lunch and I'm interested in investing some reality in plans and dreams.

Also, I completely get that we have to talk about dreams and desires etc. As far as I'm concerned, if it doesn't work for whowever would like to be involved, then we need to change it.

We all need to be prepared to work out what we want and vocalise it. We need to find a way to be honest with each other about problems we see too. (I'm not so good at that)

proposal

[doushkasmum.livejournal.com]

Actualy, I think my feelings are rather closer to sjkasabi than I had at first thought. Some of the communal ideas being batted around strike me as less ideal than I had at first thought. Living in the same street or next door would indeed be very cool. I can get all excited about these ideas quite easily. Then I think about the possibility of adding in someone else and it starts to get dodgy. I certainly don't want to remain single for the rest of my life. I don't think I want to have a child without a father either. I am not going to make life decisions based on a possible partner, but I don't want to exclude the possibility either. Under mrsbrown's plan, my rental contribution would be the smallest. I would feel uncomfortable not carrying my share of the finances in the setup. Don't know of a solution there.

Bit too foggy headed to think about it now.

Re: proposal

[splodgenoodles.livejournal.com]

Yes, me too.

I htink the good think about mrsbrown's work here is that it's made us all realise we need to talk about other things.



Exit plans from the scheme are essential - let's face it: what's the likelihood of 6 adults wanting to stay in the one place indefinitely? And having the same space requirements in 10 years time? There's a zillion reasons - nice ones and sad ones - as to why people might want out at a given time.


I reckon, about 75% of the time, I'm happy *not* being communal. That could change if we did this. I'd either spend time trying to push everyone away because I would feel you were all impinging on my marriage and on me, or I might find I kinda like it...I'm not sure.

It would be awkward for this relationship if one was more keen on socialising than the other. (ie tenbears and I)

What I tend to imagine working best is essentially a nieghbourly thing, but with certain shared facilities...I guess the question is how much shared stuff...and how we organise it...how we solve disagreemnts...and other stuff too still...

The stuff about children - I suspect that would have to be an additional arrangement between the relevant parties (and it's certianly still only a vague possibility over here).

Re: proposal

[mrsbrown.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you replied.

sjkasabi and doushkasmum's posts got me pretty down yesterday. I hate having my idealism tromped on.

Re: proposal

[splodgenoodles.livejournal.com]

There's nothing like somebody doing something concrete to make everyone realise we need to sort out the abstract...
:)

Re: proposal

[sjkasabi.livejournal.com]

Sorry for getting you down. I wasn't trying to tromp on your idealism. Just pointing out that if you want the scheme to work it has to have more than idealism, and it has to have ideals everyone involved is happy to subscribe to. Which is boringly practical, I suppose, but I meant it to be a constructive response. Let's take the idea seriously and think it through.