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Affordability

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The following pages and articles on this website are also tagged "Affordability":

  • Making cohousing affordable: Strategies and successes, part 3 of 3
    by Renee Hart, a founding member of CoHo Ecovillage
    September, 2007

    There was little doubt in anyone’s mind that Mike Volpe, the president of CoHo Ecovillage, was meant to have a home there, in the cohousing community now being built in Corvallis, Oregon. Mike wasn’t nearly as optimistic. Owning a home would mean giving up his Medicaid benefits, and that simply wasn’t an option. Mike has had primary progressive Multiple Sclerosis since he was 23. This particular form of MS is relentless in its pursuit, and it pursued Mike’s health with a vengeance, gradually taking away his ability to walk, to move his hands, and to see clearly.

  • Making cohousing affordable: Strategies and successes, part 2 of 3
    by Brad Gunkel, Architect, McCamant & Durrett Architects
    August, 2007

    The question must have gone through the collective consciousness of more than one cohousing group over the years: “Can we convince affordable housing developers to build affordable cohousing communities?” To the surprise of many cohousers, the answer is actually “yes.”

  • Making cohousing affordable: Strategies and successes, part 1 of 3
    by Betsy Morris, Coho/US Research Director
    July, 2007

    A glance at a detailed map of U.S. cohousing communities would show that most of us are living in areas of relatively high property values: on the coasts, in college towns or on the outskirts of high-tech growth centers. That’s one reason why making cohousing affordable to the widest possible number of people has been of intense interest to prospective community members throughout the history of the cohousing movement.

  • How does cohousing provide for residents of different economic means?

    Some states, counties or municipalities require developers of multi-family housing to have a certain percentage of the new units meet a standard for “affordability.” People in cohousing usually welcome this, and often wish they could make even more than the required percentage affordable. Unfortunately, unless the developer can get public or private subsidies or grants, a community can build only a limited number of affordable units without significantly driving up everyone else’s costs.

  • Planning: Getting Real, Making it Affordable: Strategies in Cohousing

    Betsy Morris, Don Tucker

    Provides an overview of strategies currently in use in cohousing, and an introduction to the steps that a forming group can take early on to identify the most promising opportunities for them. Topics include defining affordability, building your case, and finding the right partners.

    Betsy Morris lives at Berkeley Cohousing and serves as research director for Coho/US. She is a long-time community and economic development planning and research consultant, with over 20 years experience on the east and west coasts. She has developed trainings for grassroots leaders, and created neighborhood housing plans with an emphasis on affordable housing. She has a Masters and Doctorate in City and Regional Planning.

  • Planning: Integrating Affordable Units Into Cohousing Communities

    Bob Engler

    How can non-professionals succeed in taking on the role of “developer”? How can communities succeed in making affordable units a significant part of the their development projects? How and when should cohousing groups seek outside help and advice? This session covers these questions and more in a presentation of “The Housing Delivery Process.” A thorough familiarity with this process will help groups get from vision to permitting approvals, to financing, to construction. The focus will be on a specific set of critical decisions, and the key considerations that will help your group navigate your way to making the best choices.

  • What about rentals?

    Many cohousing neighborhoods include a few rental units owned by members who intend to move in later or who are away for a period of time. In some communities, individual households rent out their attached “in-law” apartments or finished basement apartments. Some people want to rent in cohousing to try it out, because they cannot yet afford to buy a unit, or because they want to live in a particular community but no units are currently available for sale. Most residents agree that rental units are a positive addition to a community.

  • Planning: Working With Non-Profit Developers to Create Affordable Rental Cohousing

    Brad Gunkel, Eris Weaver

    While many groups are looking for ways to create greater affordability in cohousing, many non-profit developers are looking for ways to create tightly knit communities in their affordable developments. Is this a marriage made in heaven? Or do institutionalized restrictions on non-profit developers make this partnership too encumbered to be worth pursuing? The reality tends to be somewhere in the middle and may be worth considering. Learn about the process and challenges of working with non-profit developers to create affordable rental cohousing through an interactive discussion with the architect and group process consultant for one such community.

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