Idea of ​​communal living failed for now

Sankt JOHANN. Nothing has come of the proposal of a young couple to implement a community housing project in the center of St. Johann. The plans have failed. At the beginning of the year, as reported, Marina Schwarz and Julian Etzelsdorfer invited people to an information afternoon in the house on the town square, which could have housed a pioneering housing project. They wanted to use the huge building, which was built by Marina’s grandfather in the 1970s, for the project. Around ten residential units and communal rooms were to be accommodated in the currently partially empty house.

Initially great interest

“There was a lot of interest in general, and 16 parties attended the information afternoon,” says Marina Schwarz. Despite this, nothing came of it: “Only one elderly couple decided to move in with us. We had to digest that first because we hadn’t expected it.” A major obstacle to getting involved in the housing project was the lack of local businesses. Financial aspects and the fact that the renovation of the house would have taken some time were also reasons for exclusion for many. Therefore, the small family with their 14-month-old daughter and Marina’s parents will continue to live alone in the house.

Idea stays in the back of your mind

“It was a clear decision not to implement the project, and that’s the right thing to do now. I think it failed more because of the local conditions than because the time for communal living had not yet come,” she says with certainty, and is therefore not putting the topic on ice completely: “Perhaps our idea can grow at a later date. Who knows what will happen one day.”