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What is Cohousing?

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Conference Appreciation

Submitted by Daybreak Cohousing on Mon, 06/29/2009 - 00:29
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Terri Huggett, Daybreak Cohousing

I've just returned home from the National Conference in Seattle this weekend. I want to express my deep appreciation for the incredible effort it took to put this event on, the inspirational presence and talks by Jan, Mark and Robert, the great presentations, volunteers, and participants. And much, much more! I'm exhausted and exhilarated. Let's use our energy to further the movement.

Traditional Housing Copies Cohousing as People Focus More on Their Values

Submitted by Blue Ridge Cohousing on Fri, 02/06/2009 - 22:15
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Peter

American home and neighborhood designs change constantly. If you put yourself randomly in a 20th century neighborhood, chances are that you could tell the decade it was built, even after the avocado-green siding is replaced. We may be in for an even bigger than normal shift in the next decade. How will a 2015 neighborhood be different than a 2007 subdivision? A recent Chicago Tribune article summarizes the eight great real estate trends of 2009:

1. Smaller Houses
2. More apartments
3. Increase in attached housing
4. More rental units
5. New urban centers with homes close to shops and restaurants
6. Common green spaces for outdoor enjoyment of homeowners.
7. Creating Community - where the developer provides social features beyond land, bricks and mortar.
8. Online marketing of homes

(see http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/dec/26/realestate/chi-real-estat...)

Do these features sound familiar?

“Bofaellesskaber?” An Interview with the Pioneer Couple of American Cohousing

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David Wann, Harmony Village, Golden, Colorado

I interviewed Charles (Chuck) Durrett and Kathryn (Katie) McCamant at a recent national cohousing conference in Boulder, Colorado. These two architects, who imported the Danish idea of bofaellesskaber, or living together, have launched a minimovement among Americans, Canadians, and others who want to help create healthier, friendlier, and more beautiful neighborhoods. Here’s what Chuck and Kate had to say about the movement’s origins, benefits, and potentials. —D. L. W.

David Wann: What were your earliest, in-person impressions of cohousing as practiced in Denmark since 1972?

Cohousing 101

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Half Day Workshop: Fri 1:30 – 5:00
register now

Special Price: $20

This introductory session is an ideal primer for newcomers to cohousing. You will learn about the history of cohousing and receive an introduction to the development process. You will gain exposure to the roles of key participants and cohousing jargon. And you will hear tips about how to get the most out of your conference experience. This session is a must for any first-timer to the conference.

PRESENTERS: Grace Kim, Coho/US Board member and Chair of Conference Planning Team; Eris Weaver, Coho/US Board Co-President and Chair of Conference Program Committee; and others.

Is religious cohousing possible?

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By E.F. Walker

Lately, religious conferences, publications and broadcasters have taken an interest in cohousing. A number of newer projects and groups are overtly religious. At the 2006 Cohousing Conference speaker Kathryn McCamant, while describing the growth of cohousing, half-jokingly asked “what are we going to do when the reli-gious right discovers cohousing?” As religious groups of different stripes explore co-housing, it is important to consider how religion and religious norms might affect a cohousing community’s core principles.

Musings: Seniors versus Elders

Submitted by Chuck Durrett on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 15:30
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Chuck DurettAn acquaintance of mine, Chris Zimmerman, owns and operates a couple of assisted-care facilities in Alameda, California. He inherited one at age 23 and subsequently built a second one. He’s now 60, and despite the limitations of an assisted care environment, he has developed astute theories about seniors and elders.

Like many observers of the cultural scene, he agrees that seniors today are given little respect, but he also believes that they have to earn the respect that they’d like to command. He argues that seniors have abdicated their role as respected elders. Being an elder once meant earning respect by playing an active role in teaching younger generations, a role that’s seldom fulfilled today. He believes that seniors earn elderhood by helping younger generations understand how to be accountable.

What are the 6 Defining Characteristics of Cohousing?

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While these characteristics aren't always true of every cohousing community, together they serve to distinguish cohousing from other types of collaborative housing:

1. Participatory process. Future residents participate in the design of the community so that it meets their needs. Some cohousing communities are initiated or driven by a developer. In those cases, if the developer brings the future resident group into the process late in the planning, the residents will have less input into the design. A well-designed, pedestrian-oriented community without significant resident participation in the planning may be “cohousing-inspired,” but it is not a cohousing community.

Next Steps

1. Take a virtual tour.

2. Visit the directory.

3. Attend the Conference.

4. Take a real tour.

Cohousing Glossary

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mansion at night
An Edwardian-style mansion was transformed into a warm, inviting common house and apartment-style units for Monterey Cohousing residents in Saint Louis Park, MN. (Photo by Rick Gravrok)

Affordable housing. Cohousing communities actively seek ways to make more of their units affordable. Some states, counties or municipalities also require developers of multi-family housing, including cohousing developments, to have a certain percentage of the new units meet a standard for “affordability.”

Coho/US. The Cohousing Association of the United States

Musings by Chuck Durrett

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Replaced by the blog pages, same content.

musingsCohousing Magazine is pleased to inaugurate a new column. Architect Chuck Durrett who, along with his wife Katie McCamant, brought cohousing to the U.S. shares a few of his thoughts and impressions on that subject.

Culture: Cohousing in Japan

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Diana Leafe Christian

This slide show explores how cohousing projects in Tokyo are similar to yet different from cohousing communities in North America. After presenting at the Ecovillage Conference in Japan in 2007, Diana visited three cohousing projects with poetic names that show the Japanese love of forests and trees: Kankanmori no Kaze (“The Winds of Kankanmori Forest”), a 28-unit project located on two floors of a 12-story community center for elders; the 12-unit Kyodo no Mori (“Forest of Kyodo”) (featured in Graham Meltzer’s book, Sustainable Communities), and Keyaki House, a 15-unit project centered around a beloved 80-foot Keyaki (Japanese Zelkova) tree

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