I The Cohousing Association welcomes blog posts from anyone in the cohousing movement

As a student or young adult, did you ever live in a dorm or shared house to save on costs? Now called co-living, this form of housing is becoming more popular again. And it’s not just because it’s an affordable option, but also because it offers community — a feeling of belonging to a family-like… Read More

Like many people of my age, I grew up in a context that was not particularly community oriented. Living in a flat on the periphery of the suburbs between single family homes and retail outlets, in housing that would be best described as a buffer left much to be desired. I had glimpses of community… Read More

Sometimes people will ask my kids what it’s like growing up in cohousing and they receive a blank stare. Not because they asked a question of a 15 year old and 17 year old, but because my kids know no other life, except in cohousing. My oldest was two years old when we moved into… Read More

Cohousing offers families and individuals a greater quality of life through collaboration. It shows that we can live better in community, and that is important in a culture that has gone too far in propping up a myth of invulnerability through individualism. For those who can afford a home in privately developed communities, cohousing is… Read More

A conference reflection: Another failure, unless, of course…  You really ENJOYED having to make choices – choices I tell you! – among 5 bus tours, 24 +/- Pre-Conf. intensives and workshops, 60+ waaay too awesome conference workshops, three plenary speakers plus one closing panel made up of 6 well versed, knowledgeable speakers/resource people.  What were… Read More

In the spectrum of intentional community, cohousing hangs out on the mainstream edge. We have our own homes. We don’t share income. Most of us have traditional mortgages as a way of accumulating wealth.  Compared with the most interdependent communities out there, most cohousing looks fairly conventional, but I wonder if we are inching along… Read More

Ted Rau joined us Wednesday for an in depth look at rounds, a core element of sociocracy and a useful tool for consensus or any type of small group meeting.  Ted explained that rounds help with equivalence, clarity in structure and saving time.   Ted suggests using rounds for small groups when people can contribute. Rounds… Read More

Chuck Durrett, who along with Katie McCamant, brought cohousing to the US, joined us for a WebChat on cohousing design and the process he uses to design a community. The theme of the evening was “If it doesn’t work socially, why bother?” Chuck began by sharing his earliest awareness of cohousing, as a young architect… Read More

In the span of about 6 months, I will leave two precious cohousing communities. I ask myself how this can be as I’m more committed than ever to community living and building my life around it. It turns out, it’s complicated. Often the burning souls of community move into cohousing and stay forever. There are… Read More