Co-housing community reflection by Sarah J

Visiting the East Lake Commons community was a very interesting learning experience. We have talked about zero step entry ways and wide sidewalks and doorways in class, but it was completely different experiencing it in person. East Lake Commons community is a co-housing community located near Atlanta. This community is not specifically geared toward those with physical disabilities; the builders of this community saw the potential to build a community that was accessible to all people and work towards this goal. Most of the houses in this community are two story, townhome-like homes, but the builders thought ahead and built two or three one story homes for those in wheelchairs.

                We first toured one of the zero step, one story homes. I was amazed by the accessibility of all the rooms in this house. The owner of the home, who used a wheelchair for movement, could easily access any place in her home. She could enter and leave her home with ease. During our short time before the actual tour started, I noticed there were a large number of community members going in and out of their neighbors’ homes; this community seemed to be a tight knit group of people with a high level of sociality. Not only was there a large amount of adults roaming around, there were school aged children playing everywhere I looked. We later learned that most of the children in this community are home-schooled. As the tour progressed, we saw number of places for the community to gather such as a community center and a community garden. The more I learned about the East Lake Commons, the more I realized that this community has a high activity and sociality level.

                Not everything I saw during this tour was positive. Towards the end of our time there, I began to feel overcrowded and cramped. Most of the houses were touching and were lacking any type of privacy. Some of the homes shared front porches and walk ways. In our society, control and privacy are key factors for our physical environment. I can only imagine how there would be control and power struggles over who actually owns the front porch. Personally, I do not think that I would prosper in this community. From my point of view, it is lacking adaptability, comfort, privacy, and is too crowded.

                Another observation that struck me was odd was the larger amount of religious art. From my short time visiting the East Lake Commons, I observed that most of the residents were Caucasian. Normally, the Caucasian population is mainly Christian, but in this community there were a large number of what appeared to be Buddhist art forms. I remember counting at least three front porches that had banners with images of Buddha on them.  To the residents, I am sure that this community has high meaning to them. Most members seemed to enjoy gardening and outdoor activities; most also seemed to have the same religion. This community must hold a large amount of cultural meaning to all the residents.

                I have always loved exploring new cultures, so I am very glad that we took the field trip to the East Lake Commons; it was unlike any other community I had ever seen.  I loved the accessibility for those who have physical disabilities, but did not favor the crowded and lack of privacy. Overall, I think that it was a great experience.