Interesting. I agree with a lot of the conclusions - I am yet to find a single co-living spaces of any size that manages kitchen conflicts well, and they who figure it out will be in high demand!
Did your group discuss creative output of co-living spaces? It’s something that interests me, take a look at my recent post and let me know what you think.
Hi Heidi! Thanks for reaching out. And I agree, chores are big problem that I don't think folks spend enough time thinking about -- most end up throwing up their hands and hiring out cleaners, which puts an extra cost on the residents (and doesn't do much about the dishes anyway).
I read your essay. One thing I'd be curious your perspective on -- how does hiring staff to run programming fit into the budgets of a building? I've always been a bit skeptical that rents can support those types of costs, especially if you're catering to creatives who are more price-sensitive. My view has been to focus on quality of the building and cost of rent, and let the community emerge organically.
At Southall &Soul, we took on a team of Work Exchange members who received room discounts for their time. We had 20 people when we first launched, now there is about 15 or so, which means we can do a lot. It depends how many rooms you have available and how comfortable the investors feel with allocating that cost, but by having facilitators as members it’s better for community building as well as easier on the cash flow. Even smaller spaces could use this model of their product was appealing enough to draw talented people and either retain them or have a good rotation.
That makes a lot of sense! If you're willing to share, I'd be curious to know more about what the discounts were vs. how much time the residents spent on their roles.
Interesting. I agree with a lot of the conclusions - I am yet to find a single co-living spaces of any size that manages kitchen conflicts well, and they who figure it out will be in high demand!
Did your group discuss creative output of co-living spaces? It’s something that interests me, take a look at my recent post and let me know what you think.
https://heidiwarwick.substack.com/p/reimagining-co-living-as-cultural
Hi Heidi! Thanks for reaching out. And I agree, chores are big problem that I don't think folks spend enough time thinking about -- most end up throwing up their hands and hiring out cleaners, which puts an extra cost on the residents (and doesn't do much about the dishes anyway).
I read your essay. One thing I'd be curious your perspective on -- how does hiring staff to run programming fit into the budgets of a building? I've always been a bit skeptical that rents can support those types of costs, especially if you're catering to creatives who are more price-sensitive. My view has been to focus on quality of the building and cost of rent, and let the community emerge organically.
At Southall &Soul, we took on a team of Work Exchange members who received room discounts for their time. We had 20 people when we first launched, now there is about 15 or so, which means we can do a lot. It depends how many rooms you have available and how comfortable the investors feel with allocating that cost, but by having facilitators as members it’s better for community building as well as easier on the cash flow. Even smaller spaces could use this model of their product was appealing enough to draw talented people and either retain them or have a good rotation.
Again, every space is different!
That makes a lot of sense! If you're willing to share, I'd be curious to know more about what the discounts were vs. how much time the residents spent on their roles.
Happy to discuss Heidi.e.warwick@gmail.com