Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with co-op

Ideas for a housewide party

Mayhembob — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:37:50 -0800

I am a college student living in a co-op (house with 38 people). I need to arrange a party; preferably a costume party. The themes I have come up with so far are: 1) Time Traveler's Ball 2) Alice in Wonderland 3)Mad Science Night Question: What are good ideas for entertainment/activites for those themes? Some ideas I already have to get the brainstorm started:
*Time Traveler's Ball (costume competition; music/food from different time periods)
*Alice (Put mirrors on the front door; cake for unbirthdays; magic berries that turn sour food sweet)
*Mad Science (Dry ice, Van de Graff generator, making ice cream)

English as a foreign language.

stackhaus23 — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:07:29 -0800

What's the best way to teach conversational English to a Polish person with currently only very minimal English skills? My girlfriend is taking art classes with a Polish artist in exchange for conversational English lessons, although she doesn't speak Polish herself. What is the best way to teach conversational English to someone with only minimal vocabulary? Has anyone else had any similar experiences? Thanks in advance!

Co-op letter writing help

josher71 — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 07:10:14 -0800

I need to write a friend a recommendation letter for a co-op where he is trying to buy an apartment here in NYC. I've never done this before. What kinds of things should I say in the letter besides the usual "I've known him for ten years and he's a stand up guy" sort of thing?

Does anyone have experience in starting a co-op?

humannaire — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 22:19:41 -0800

How do I start a grocery co-op? Do any mefites have experience with this? Here on the island of Key West, a crisis has developed. Our island's best grocery, Waterfront Market, supplier of fresh seafood and all sorts of goodies for Islanders, our boating communities and the dock workforce, is being by forced to close by a combination of bureaucratic greed and ineptitude. But there is hope!

A very solid group of neighbors and citizens has banded together with the idea of taking over the reigns of the market and transforming the successful business - 20 years with 45 employees - into a co-op. And I am spearheading the movement! Any insight or recommendations?

(My applicable background is in market research, organic farming, and ecology. I have done the google work, and come up with some very good/well-established groundwork. What I am looking for is recommendations and insight based on personal experience in starting a co-op.)

Is there profit to being a non-profit?(???)

mrgreyisyelling — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:51:40 -0800

An individual looking to buy a multi-family home to create a low rent situation for several artists. Is there a benefit to becoming a non-profit? Is there money to help support this venture that I should be chasing after? Not very complicated: I'm in the process to purchasing a piece of property, to allow a small group (8-10) of artists to live and work for reduced rent. Suddenly it occurred to me that I'm playing the role of a non-profit - I've been crunching numbers so hard I hadn't given it much thought.

1. Is there some benefit to purchasing this property as a non-profit, rather then a single nice guy?

1a. If I do go as a non-profit (what ever that means), does that mean I have to charge the logistically lowest rent? What does that mean to the profit from the property if/when I sell it again?

2. Is there money out there for this purpose that I should be pursuing that might help us out? (Currently living in Connecticut, but my search isn't limited to this state) Any way to make the monthly payments as low as possible.

3. And while I'm at it: Whats the wisdom to making a piece of property a co-op situation, rather then a tenant/owner situation? And would/should it still be considered a non-profit.

4. if things go ugly - is there a way for property to become profit again?

facts: Second piece of property, I AM a a low income artist as well, and I would like to live here as well.

Don't worry, I'm not going to run out and buy the house today or tomorrow base on what ever you say. Yes I'm going to go talk to a 'real' person if my 'internet friends' generally make noises like this could be a good plan.

Is my neighbor's second bathroom going to make my building crumble?

waterbottle — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 07:57:35 -0800

What are the risks associated with adding a second bathroom to an old apartment building not necessarily "wired" for the task? I am concerned about my neighbor's construction plans. We live in an old brownstone from the 1920s with one apartment per floor. As it is now, each apartment has only bathroom - all in the same location/on the same line. One of my neighbors wants to add a second bath - (on the second floor) - and rearrange some walls. I'm wondering if there's anything inherently tricky about this from a structural standpoint...I'm worried if each apartment is renovated on a case-by-case basis without looking at the structure as a whole things could end badly. Am I overreacting?

Creating a custom search engine from a set of bookmarks?

imposster — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 07:17:25 -0800

Trying to turn a set of bookmarks (del.icio.us) into a custom search engine. I want to be able to not just search my bookmarks, but search the content of my bookmarks - and not just all of my bookmarks, but sets of my bookmarks defined by tags.

Rollyo - doesn't allow more than a few urls

I think Google Co-op might be the solution, but I can't figure out how to import the bookmarks into the engine except manually. Once they are in, the search engine is highly customizable, but it would be best if it could be done on the fly.

Is there another option? Maybe this cannot be easily done with the del.icio.us export options.

The down-low on co-ops.

killdevil — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 18:05:00 -0800

Help my younger sister decide whether or not to buy a co-op apartment. There's some My sister is in her mid-twenties and is thinking about buying a relatively inexpensive apartment in a co-op building near Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. This would be the first place she's owned, and she's attracted to the idea foremost because she's not wildly enthusiastic about the prospect of throwing money at a rental apartment.

Neither she nor I know much about co-ops. How hard is it to sell a share in such a building relative to selling an apartment in a condominium? How well do such places hold their value relative to similar dwellings with more traditional ownership schemes?

What else should she be aware of as she contemplates the purchase? What should she know about co-ops and co-op living?

Help me find co-op housing in Chicago

sk381 — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 18:17:23 -0800

Looking for co-op housing in Chicago. Does any one have any suggestions? Even better if the co-op is run by graduate students but it is not a necessity. Searching online hasn't shown too many options, so I was hoping someone here could help me out.

co-op lan games for the pc

lemonfridge — Sun, 15 Jan 2006 07:42:07 -0800

Inspired by this thread; what are some good networkable co-op PC games for 4-6 players? We currently enjoy the Battlefield series, Alien vs Predator 2, and SWAT 4 (and from time to time the original Doom). We have a preference for first-person games, but it's not a requirement.

(what we wouldnt give for multiplayer Cannon Fodder over LAN!)

Co-op questions

sanitycheck — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 12:08:42 -0800

Tell me about your co-op housing experiences... We are frustrated with rental prices here in Vancouver B.C., and there is absolutely no way we can afford to buy anything in this market, so my boyfriend and I are considering applying to some co-ops. I'm hoping to hear from others who have lived (or currently live) in co-ops. Even better if it is/was in Vancouver!

We are both graduate students in our mid-late twenties. We don't mind participating in building life, and in fact think it would be a great way to meet new people! However, we aren't married, and aren't planning kids in the near future. Do co-ops mostly look for married couples and families? The web page for one of the co-ops I was considering says it doesn't accept 2-bedroom applications from "families" (their quotes) with no children! Is this a common attitude in these types of places?

Also, many of the co-ops here have minimum income levels. When we combine both of our school funding amounts, we more than meet the minimum, but neither of us meets it on our own. I'm wondering if that is going to be an issue...

Why should I shop for groceries at a co-op?

monsterhero — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 23:26:39 -0800

Why should one shop for groceries at a co-op that sells local and organic foods, especially since it's more expensive? I'm trying to get a fairly staunch Republican relative, set in his coupon-cutting,, big-box PriceChopper ways, to shop at a local cooperative, but can't come up with a very elegant argument.