In response to this query on coho-l: I am an owner at Pacific Gardens Cohousing Community in Nanaimo. One thing I am curious about, is the number of people who say they want to rent for awhile before deciding to buy a unit. They want to “try it out” and “see if it is a... Read Mo

By Diana Leafe Christian If you want to join a cohousing community, in my experience there are at least two ways to plan visits to likely existing communities and/or core groups of forming communities. One way is to visit only those that seem like likely candidates — communities or groups you’re actually considering joining, given... Read More

By Diana Leafe Christian If you’re looking for a forming cohousing community, learn to “read between the lines” in directory listings and websites. • I observed in my book Creating a Life Together that only about 10 percent of forming intentional community groups succeed, and about 90 percent fail. And while the statistics for cohousing... Read More

By Diana Leafe Christian On August 1st, Fostermamas: “As potential co-housing members we’re constantly refining what factors are important in our cohousing search. Each visit to a potential community has given us more insight into what we’re looking for in our ideal community. “After visiting our first cohousing community we decided that our multiracial family... Read More

Diana Leafe Christian “That’s not the community I’d ever live in!”The man in the back of the room was upset, and walked out. We were just 45 minutes into my workshop-consultation for his cohousing community. Clearly, what I’d said so far had upset him. The six-year-old community had called me in as a consultant because... Read More

by Diana Leafe Christian Match what you want with what’s available. • You may only want to join a cohousing community if one already exists in your area. This limits your options of course, but saves you time and money ultimately, since it’s relatively easy to move across town. • You may be open to... Read More