2003 Review

A celebration of community and a better way of life

by Diane Leafe Christan

“You are literally creating a new culture,” sociologist and market researcher Paul H. Ray, Ph.D., declared in his keynote speech to the attentive crowd gathered in Boulder, CO, for the Cohousing Association of the United States’ biennial National Cohousing Conference.

“Cohousers are helping shape a new American culture for the 21st century,” said Ray, co-author of The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World. “Cultural creatives” is Ray’s term for 26 percent of the American population – 50 million in all – who insist on authenticity in their personal lives and work, and are driving the demand for ecologically sustainable products and services.

Cohousers “definitely fall into the category” of cultural creatives, who are in a process of reframing what is meaningful to them, Ray said. They care about personal fulfillment, are socially conscious and want to create a better way of life – not just for themselves but for everyone.

“There is a huge market for cohousing,” Ray added, noting that one-seventh of the American population – 10 million households – move every year, with most of them buying new homes. A former urban planning professor, Ray also noted that half of the new homebuyers in the U.S. are fed up with suburbs and love the idea of small-town design. He sees urban cohousing communities as a component of sustainable cities in the near future.

“The cities that will work will be those that are comprised of many little high-density functioning neighborhoods – many of them cohousing communities – modular units within the city,” Ray said. “Cohousing communities will become a basic unit of urban design.”

That was invigorating news for the nearly 200 people attending the conference, representing 57 cohousing communities or groups in development from 28 states, plus many cohousing architects, developers and contractors. John Fowler traveled from Homer, AK, to consider a cohousing development for his property. Environmental education grad student Charlotte Clark came from Duke University in North Carolina to learn whether the spirit of community might encourage voluntary, pro-environmental behavior among cohousing residents. Architect Robin Allison flew from New Zealand to check out the U.S. cohousing scene for her book on sustainable housing alternatives.

Cohousers share stories, expertise, fun times and common values

The conference was information-rich and emotionally rewarding. Core groups received a first-rate education in how to pull off a multi-million dollar project. Residents of existing cohousing communities shared stories and learned from their counterparts across the United States. Architects, developers and consultants shared their expertise with potential clients. We all got, it seemed, exactly what Cultural Creatives need most – to find out we’re not alone in wanting to create communities that offer a better way of living in today’s world.

Many attendees were inspired by communities they visited during guided daylong tours offered Thursday and Friday. During Thursday’s “Northern Tour” they traveled to Greyrock Commons and River Rock Commons in Fort Collins, Nyland in Lafayette, and Wild Sage (the construction site) and Nomad Cohousing in Boulder. On Friday they took the southern route to Harmony Village in Golden, Hearthstone in north Denver, Highline Crossing in Littleton and Casa Verde in Colorado Springs.

Another option on Thursday was Professionals Day, which supported individuals and organizations working to help cohousing communities get built. The day provided a unique opportunity for architects, builders, developers, financial, legal, marketing, public relations professionals and group process facilitators to share their expertise and resources.

On Friday, national cohousing leaders shared their expertise in six daylong pre-conference workshops – each with a unique focus. People dealing with conflicts in their cohousing groups, for example, heard sage wisdom about how to bridge their differences from Shari Leach, Coho/US president and Wonderland Hill Development Company process consultant, and Tree Bressen, consensus facilitator from Walnut Street Co-op in Eugene, OR.

Intermediate and advanced facilitators processed some of their worst “Facilitation Headaches” in a workshop led by Laird Schaub, executive director of the Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC) from Sandhill Farm community in Missouri, and Betty Didcoct, consensus facilitator and former FIC board member.

For people involved in cohousing groups that are not yet built, several pre-conference sessions offered different frames of reference. CoHousing co-author and architect Katie McCamant of The Cohousing Company in Berkeley hosted “Getting it Built,” an overview of how to organize, plan and design a cohousing community. Those still looking for building sites migrated to “Land Acquisition: Is Your Site Waiting for You?,” a workshop led by developer Chris ScottHanson of Cohousing Resources in Washington state and author of The Cohousing Handbook, along with cohousing engineer Jim Daylor of Daylor Consulting Group.

Approximately 35 conference participants joined CoHousing co-author and architect Chuck Durrett of The Cohousing Company and developer Jim Leach of Wonderland Hill Development Company in a tour that focused on “Creating Value in Cohousing Through World-Class Design and Construction.”

And still more hot topics

On Saturday and Sunday, 90-minute workshops and panels ran six-deep and were organized so that participants could plug in anywhere depending on their interest or involvement with cohousing. One hot topic was seniors in cohousing. In recent years increasing numbers of cohousing communities have begun to consider how people might live out their whole lives in their cohousing communities. Chuck Durrett and Michigan cohousing developer Nick Meima (Sunward, Great Oak and Touch-stone) led a session titled “Building Cohousing for Seniors.”

Another workshop panel on seniors in cohousing generated an evocative discussion by panelists Arthur Okner and Neshama Abraham Paiss (Nomad Cohousing), Cohousing/US board member Ken Helfant (Tierra Nueva, Oceano, California), Patty Hodgins (Hearthstone, Denver) and Nick Meima.

“Survival Tips for Cohousing Professionals Living in Their Communities” was another lively session, led by Diane deSimone of Sonora Cohousing and Stone Curves and Don Bunn of Wonderland Hill.

Seeking diversity in cohousing

Participants in a session titled “The Urban Block Project: Transforming Blighted City Blocks to Cohousing” learned about one new opportunity for cohousing. Up until now in the United States, cohousing has been largely a middle-class (or upper-middle-class) phenomenon, with most households headed by highly educated professionals. Dr. Richard Lloyd, director of the Institute for Architecture and Planning at Morgan State University in Baltimore, and Coho/US board member Ann Zabaldo of Takoma Village Cohousing in Washington, DC, have proposed that the cohousing model might be used for the renewal of urban residential blocks scheduled for “revitalization” to prevent the disruptive effect of forced relocation.

Those most vulnerable to such relocation – single mothers, latchkey kids, elders and grandparents raising their grandchildren – would benefit the most. Morgan State University is seeking a HUD grant to learn whether this idea might work.

The ultimate goal is to develop a model in Baltimore that can be replicated in urban communities throughout the U.S. The Mid-Atlantic regional group would provide the cohousing expertise needed for the project and will act in a support capacity to Morgan State. This project will be a major focus of the 2005 National Conference, which will be held in Baltimore in cooperation with Morgan State University.

A joyful celebration, with “fun-draising,” too!

A conference highlight was Saturday night’s dinner and dance party, which featured an Italian feast, a rockin’ salsa band, plus silent and live auctions, which raised $5,200 for Coho/US.

The conference closed at noon on Sunday on the wide green lawn outside the meeting rooms. The sense of community was genuine as Neshama Abraham Paiss led a closing circle and everyone sang along to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s Our House. In just four remarkable days, those attending had deepened friendships, made new connections, and felt a renewed sense of purpose and commitment to the cohousing movement.

We hope to see you at our next national cohousing conference!

Diana Leafe Christan is the author of Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities,a unique guide to launching and sustaining successful communitie – and avoiding the typical mistakes in the process. She is also the editor of Communities Magazine and a member of Earthaven Ecovillage in North Carolina.