No surprise, but always nice to see data backing up what those living in cohousing communities are already intimately aware of.

Researchers asked, what makes for happy homeowners? Not size or price, actually. It’s about the community.
“It turns out that what really matters is the extent to which our houses facilitate positive social connections,” says Elizabeth Dunn, director of the Happy Lab at The University of British Columbia. She’s published and showcased her research in Time, Science, The Globe and Mail, CNN and many other media outlets and top journals.

Also important is access to nature, green space near the home and spaces for bumping into neighbors. Reminds me of a Coho/US post earlier this year discussing “crossroads” as a key to lively communities. Though this clip doesn’t mention cohousing specifically, it references the essentials of cohousing architectural practice, neighborhoods built on a human scale and reminiscent of the landscape surrounding them.

Read the article and listen to the full recording clip from CBC News here.