According to story in today's Union Leader, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch yesterday toured Nubanusit Neighborhood & Farm, the state's first completed cohousing neighborhood.

He wasn't the first New Hampshire Governor to walk the Peterborough property, though: the community was built in 2008 on the historic homestead of Gov. John Steele (1789-1865), and the basement of his renovated now super-insulated home (now offices) houses the ultra-efficient renewably-fueled wood-pellet-burning boilers that circulate heat and supply hot water to the 29 homes clustered onto just five of the 113 acres, preserving extensive woods and farmland, the story notes.

As a cohousing professional who sometimes plays matchmaker between cohousing groups and community-seekers, I like to keep my ear to the ground. I subscribe to lots of groups' announcement or "friends" email lists, so that I can make relevant introductions and connections.

Over the past week I've picked up from these lists some exciting news that gives me new hope for the cohousing movement as a force to help lead the country out of the current economic downturn. There's big steps happening in Brooklyn, Chicago and Southeastern Pennsylvania, sites or development partners secured for at least three communities, with hints that others are following in their footsteps, including in the San Francisco Bay Area. Read on for more about the announcements, with a little Cohousing Coaching interwoven, some Monday-morning quarterbacking about how they broke the news to some of their best prospects on their lists.