Who We Are

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New View is a collection of individuals. We are formally bound by no philosophy, religion or political inclination. Some of us are seniors, some middle-aged; about a quarter of our households have school-age children at home and about half are empty-nesters - a cohort of children have already grown up here and moved on (in 2014, we welcomed the first child to be born to someone who grew up at New View).
 
While there are varying degrees of diversity in terms of age, race, gender, income, political views, religious practice and family background, as a self-selected group, certain values are widely shared. For example, a commitment to environmentalism is evidenced by the choices we make both as a group (installing solar panels on the Common House, using "green" landscaping practices) and as individuals (installing solar panels on houses, driving hybrid or electric cars, being active in environmental advocacy groups).

New View Impressions 

David
Age 67
How long have you been part of the New View community?
Since 1991, when my wife and I attended an introductory meeting

What do you do (or have you done) professionally?
Current career: mediator, arbitrator, lawyer, law school adjunct professor; previous career: woodworker.

What is your favorite thing to do in Acton? What do you enjoy about living in Acton?
Jogging (lots of sidewalks make it safe and I love the scenic, windy back roads)

What is your favorite outdoor place at NV?
Our backyard, because it’s got a rose-covered arbor and a lovely stone wall

What are your two favorite NV traditions?
New Year’s Day music jam; using email to ask to borrow things (e.g., use of a car, or a cup of sugar) and getting a response within minutes.

Please describe a favorite moment or experience here.
On our 30th wedding anniversary, my wife and I came home to find our house filled with flowers, and a note signed by NV’ers saying that these flowers had come from every garden at NV.

What does cohousing mean to you?
It means being surrounded by friends, who give you space when you need it and hugs when that’s what you need.

What are you passionate about?
My family, world peace, social justice, environmental sustainability, cohousing.

Name something you have done that you are very proud of.
Caring for my wife when she was terminally ill and enabling her to pass on peacefully at home with our NV neighbors supporting us; hiking the Appalachian Trail with my son; raising money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute by running the Boston Marathon; teaching mediation to law students; creating a law firm that focuses on collaborative resolution of conflict .

What else would you like to say that might give a sense of what New Viewers are like?
For me, NV exemplifies the motto of ‘thinking globally, acting locally.’  I also like the cohousing bumper sticker that I saw many years ago: ‘Making the world a better place, one neighborhood at a time.’

Sue 
Age 55
How long have you been part of the New View community?
I joined in 1990 when I met my to-be husband who was one of the original members. My kids have grown up here.

List three words to describe yourself.
Creative, thinking, involved.

What is your favorite thing to do in Acton? What do you enjoy about living in Acton?
I love to take photographs at the Acton Arboretum and the extensive conservation lands the town offers.

What is your favorite outdoor place at New View?
Right now, it's the chicken coop; I have loved watching the chickens grow up. But my favorite place changes with the seasons. Sometimes it's the giant maple, others it's the blackberry bushes. Often it's wherever I can catch a glimpse of the wetlands. 

What are your two favorite NV traditions?
New Year’s Day music jam. And Halloween done old-style (donuts on a string, bobbing for apples, etc.)

Please describe a favorite moment or experience here.
A favorite moment: swaddled in blankets and sleeping bags in the field, watching a meteor shower with my neighbors. A comforting experience was when I broke my arm (on my way to prep for that night's common house meal) and I knew that my kids (then 3 and 5) would be cared for while I spent the night at the hospital. 

What does cohousing mean to you?
It means being seen and accepted for who I am.

Jim
Age 57
How long have you been part of the New View community?
I joined the group when we were just starting to look for a site in 1989. 


What is your favorite outdoor place at NV?
In the grasslands down by Fort Pond Brook, near the conservation land. 

What was the last good book you read?
The Sixth Great Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert. Gives a deep-history context for environmental action.

List three words to describe NV
Home at last

What else would you like to say that might give a sense of what New Viewers are like? 
During community discussions, I'm usually sure I'm right, but then I find myself changing my mind when my neighbors present their point of view. 

Nathan
​Age 12
How long have you been part of the New View community?
My family moved here in 2009. 

What is your favorite outdoor place at NV?
Great Lawn during the summer, the sledding hill during the winter.
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What are your two favorite NV traditions?
Thanksgiving football game and New Year’s Jam.

Please describe a favorite moment or experience here.
Scaring people in the haunted house.
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What are you passionate about?
Science.