Thanks, this is interesting. We've been getting in touch with some of the more established regional co-ops as well as other start-ups in the area, not sure if we're connected with People's Food Co-op but they must be doing something right :)

Good point re: all co-ops not created equal. Seems like the standard practice is to build to suit your community, and most co-ops are going up in "established" neighborhoods/towns where growth isn't really a factor. We know exactly how many members we need to be sustainable and it's pretty much a hard goal, but it wouldn't necessarily be the same for a smaller town (e.g. DeKalb, IL, where the local food co-op has been around since the 70's and never in a space larger than a couple rail cars stacked on top of each other).

Education of the community also seems to be an important factor, as indicated by how many successful co-ops are in college towns. Our community has a 50%+ college education rate but (as I may have noted in another, unrelated, post here) that's bound to change over time. I wonder how we'll fare with a (relatively/marginally) sluggish economy and the lack of an 'anchor' like a University (although there is a much smaller one just ten miles away).

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The move has been as smooth as it can be. Still waiting to tackle some big work on the house, but edging closer every day. Really lucked out with the 'studio' space not needing much/any work - other than updating the outlets, eventually - and having the ability to go in there and work on music, play some records, and just relax. After my girlfriend fell ill last year I created outlets for myself, some constructive - like comedy - and others not so much (gambling, drinking too much, etc). Having the ability to just tune focus on music, as well as joining a band, has been a tremendous help.