Prairie Hill Cohousing/Iowa City Cohousing

Description:

Iowa City Cohousing is developing Prairie Hill as a multigenerational eco-community on an 7-acre infill site in a cosmopolitan city of 70,000 and metro of 150,000. We are located on bus lines and biking and walking trails about a mile from the University of Iowa and downtown Iowa City. Prairie Hill is adjacent to a small city park and near a large new multifaceted city park. There are numerous restaurants and businesses to meet most of a person’s everyday needs within walking or biking distance of Prairie Hill. Prairie Hill’s location has a bikeability score of 81. Prairie Hill has been named the 2019 best owner-occupied new development in Iowa by 1000 Friends of Iowa: People United for Responsible Land Use, an honor based on the sustainability characteristics of our community. With just 8 units left to build at Prairie Hill Cohousing in Iowa City Most have been sold or spoken for, many folks have moved in, and the Common House had been completed and hosts community meals, visitors in our guest rooms, and a wide range of activities and meetings. Additional homes are available for finishing with materials and fixtures of new owners’ choices in Iowa’s first cohousing community. Several homes are under construction, and one market-rate fourplex remains to be built. Remaining homes are configured as two-story fourplexes with one or two bedrooms in each home. We offer homes of 670, 800, and 950 square feet. Smaller and larger homes have all been sold. All buildings are super-insulated and built to meet Energy Star and LEED certification standards. Most are sited to permit installation of solar panels on their roofs. Nearly four acres of our site has been reserved for gardens, prairie, orchard, and open space. We have a large fenced community garden with space for individual plots as well. Many members are also gardening around their homes. We have been awarded state grants to support sustainable stormwater management practices on our site. As we develop both the open space and the land around our homes, we are following permaculture principles. Our large open in-town site is a great location for outside exploration and play, and there is a great view of the countryside from atop our hill. We are committed to being a diverse, inclusive community. We include current and retired teachers, librarians, a mediator, engineers, social workers, a landscape designer, a massage therapist, an editor, writers, a pharmacist, a professional genealogist and translator, and specialists in affordable housing. Iowa City Cohousing has been awarded grants and tax credits to build some affordable homes for income-qualified buyers. Mortgages on our homes currently qualify for VA, FHA financing, Fannie Mae financing is in the works. Community life is evolving as the number of members increases. We host Tasty Tuesday common meals in the big dining room of our Common House, and there are usually a couple of potluck suppers each month. During the warm months we share outdoor work projects followed by Thirsty Thursday gatherings. Spontaneous game and movie nights, debate-watch parties, and creative activities happen frequently. The Common House has two guest rooms, a laundry, and mailboxes in addition to a big kitchen, living, children’s and activity rooms. We have hosted many private family dinners, wedding receptions, political and public interest group meetings, community sings, and a literary society. Regular house concerts and a documentary film series are in our plans. Iowa City ranks high in many national ratings of desirable communities, including 4th best place to live in America, according to the 2019 livability.org index. It has top-ranked public schools, a major research university and world-class university teaching hospital, a thriving arts and entertainment culture, free summer festivals, and Big Ten sports. It was the first UNESCO City of Literature in the country, home to the renowned Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and excellent independent bookstores. Iowa City and the University of Iowa have silver ratings as a bicycle-friendly community and university, respectively according to the League of American Bicyclists.