What is a Senior-Friendly Cohousing Community?
When talking about “Aging in Community” I often refer to a senior-friendly cohousing community. Please don’t confuse the term senior-friendly with senior-only. Senior-friendly can refer to either multi-generational or seniors only communities. They both modify the cohousing model to create physical and social environments that allow people to flourish as they get older. A senior-friendly… Read More
Cohousing: Communities of Proximity as We Age
Katie McCamant’s recent interview centered on cohousing’s benefits to those entering the “next act” of their lives. Her responses speak to the tandem benefits of this nexus: aging in community while remaining integrated in the fabric of our chosen city/region. Katie’s experience as development consultant, cohousing entrepreneur and lead at CoHousing Solutions grounds the discussion,… Read More
Aging Better Together Conference: Making Senior Cohousing a Reality
Like many other baby boomers, the experience of caring for elder parents had a profound effect on my vision of aging in America. Although, my work had been focused on improving the lives of seniors through the use of technology and options for aging in place, the realities of aging in place didn’t hit me… Read More
Not Dressing Up As Much: Joy at Germantown Commons
“I feel different,” Essie said quizzically as she stood in front of her new condo in Germantown Commons, “I’m not dressing up as much as before.” We had just started moving in to the brand new homes completed in August 2015. Germantown Commons is a 25 home cohousing community one mile from downtown Nashville And… Read More
When lying awake last night reflecting on various decisions made in cohousing and in my neighborhood community, I explored some questions about what is open and transparent in a world where everyone belongs to several organizations and tries to involve and represent a larger community. What is required to truly inform and solicit information about… Read More
I echo Jenny Godwin’s sentiments in her Social Portfolio blog in taking stock of our connections. Outside of cohousing, we live in a culture that values materialism and wealth, with social ties taking a back seat. This despite evidence that “social capital” is a significant factor in health and happiness – more even than eating… Read More
Have you ever felt a “feeling” of loneliness that seems physical and tangible? Similar to the feeling of hunger, it seems the loneliness feeling serves an evolutionary need: We feel hungry so that we eat and don’t die. Likewise, we physically feel lonely so that we make connections with each other and we can collectively… Read More
Aging Better Together:The Time is Now
The stereotype and dominant paradigm of cohousing communities as they’ve developed over the past quarter century in the US is that our neighborhoods are great places for kids, the next generation, families, call it what you like. We’re all about the “village” it takes to raise a child, in the eyes of many. But if… Read More
The Passage into Elderhood
[Laird’s post is relevant to our Aging Better Together Conference, with sessions on “conscious aging” and “the power of purpose.” Come join us!] I recently received an interesting invitation, asking if I would write about elderhood, and what it means to make a purposeful transition into that stage of life: “Elderhood is certainly one of… Read More
Founders Band Together to Showcase Innovative Ways to “do” Aging
[Editor’s Note: Village Hearth Cohousing is a sponsor of the Aging Better Together Conference. Come join us!] These are exciting times on the cohousing front in the Triangle area of North Carolina! Three forming senior cohousing communities are working cooperatively to spread the good news of cohousing as an innovative way to “do” aging differently… Read More
25 Years and Still Going Strong: Muir Commons & Cohousing in America
This year Muir Commons celebrates its 25th anniversary. This means 25 years of cohousing in the United States! Even at the very beginning of this project, which is located in Davis, California, Katie and I could envision other cohousing communities taking root in the U.S. It was a dream we shared with many others. And… Read More
Talking About Aging in Community
[Editor’s Note: Come to the Aging Better Together Conference and join Laird’s pre-conference intensive: “Community Conversations about Aging: What You Need to Talk about and How”] Almost all intentional communities do not expect to be able to provide support to members through end of life. While it may work out to provide that for some,… Read More
© The Cohousing Association of the United States. All Rights Reserved.