Walnut Commons in Santa Cruz sent this delightful note with a gift: “our community is just a few months in our new building and we have many expenses as we settle in….we do see the value of Coho/US and hope that in the future we may do more.” How wonderful! If your community has not… Read More

Tiny Houses and shared living arrangements are currently hot topics on the COHO-US Listserv, tapping into the consistently popular themes of affordabiity and simplicity. Can these now-trendy models that trade-off square footage and private amenities for more affordable, manageable lives deliver on our high expectations? Since cohousing has already been doing precisely this for over… Read More

The fence went up and the building went down! The countdown clock has started. We are VERY excited to have officially broken ground today. We’ve started a blog page on our website at http://capitolhillurbanwww.cohousing.org/blog where you can subscribe to track our progress. There are more photos posted there but below is one to whet your… Read More

Now is the time of year when many cohousing communities review their budgets. Does your community include a budget for supporting Coho/US with an annual gift? Including an annual gift as a recurring donation allows your community to affirm ongoing support without requiring discussion by the finance committee or the whole community every year. What… Read More

Off my usual topic of governance but this was a response to a question from a new community that I thought might be helpful to all new communities, and some settled ones. What should we buy of the kitchen? On small appliances: At 14 years we still have donations and have just started buying more… Read More

“It is a strategy I think a community could use to jump start their program, and then talk about how to reduce the centralization after a year or more of successful meals. Since we have quite slowly added new households it is quite clear that our successful meals program is what has helped get more… Read More

This weekend was a great regional conference in Boulder, Colorado. Zach and I enjoyed both the conference and the beauty of the mountains and the creek immensely. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen, and I’m looking forward to the 2015 National Cohousing Conference – May 29-31, 2015 – Durham, North Carolina!

Creating Community as We Grow Older featuring Beth Baker (Salt Lake City, UT)When: Saturday, October 18, 2014 2:00-4:30pm Where:  Utah Cultural Celebration Center, 1355 West 3100 South, Salt Lake City, UT Contact Information: Cindy Turnquist cindy [at] sagehillcohousing [dot] org For Details: http://sagehillcohousing.com/events/ Beth Baker, author of “With a Little Help from our Friends,” will… Read More

Cohousers will be part of the NYC People’s Climate March on Sept 21st, showcasing this great banner! Laura Fitch is leading about 20 people from Pioneer Valley Cohousing, and will be joined by other cohousers from NYC Coho, NYC Cohousing Group, Katywil Farm Community, New View Cohousing, and Nubanusit Neighborhood & Farm, along with others… Read More

Question: We are 3 months into starting a co-housing community in western MA. We will soon be discussing how we will make group decisions. I don’t think we have to reinvent the wheel on this one. Consensus and sociocracy seem to be common strategies. Which do you recommend? Sociocracy and consensus are not opposite things…. Read More

Question: I would like to know the number of units of the smallest Cohousing communities and people’s opinions about the smallest number of units necessary for a viable Cohousing community. Response: Years ago, somewhere in the literature I saw the results of a survey that the ideal size was 25-35 households. Under 25 could get… Read More

Harvard and AARP say senior housing is the next big American crisis, according to a new report. From Senior Housing News, “A shortage of caregivers for baby boomers, high cost of senior living products and services and lack of disability-equipped housing reveal a seniors housing crisis as the 50-and-over population is projected to increase about… Read More

“… Switzerland’s Pumpipumpe is trying to bring a little of that back — forward? — into the information age. Rather than developing a mobile app that assists sharing of goods between neighbors, they’ve gone old-school with stickers that people can apply to their mailboxes to let others know what they have to lend. It’s a… Read More

I had the pleasure of meeting with Laird Schaub and other members of the FIC (Fellowship for Intentional Community) oversight committee, at Shannon Farm Community in Afton, Virginia. To start, this was affirmation of our beneficial collaborative partnership; as sister organizations, we both seek to build community. I offered that our cohousing model may be… Read More

When I took on the role of Executive Director of Coho/US in April, I was ready to partner with the board in tackling our ambitious goals set over the winter. With almost 5 months on the job, on this Labor Day, I thought it time to provide a summary “how are we doing?” An initial… Read More

Coho/US welcomes two new members joining the Board of Directors. Peter Lazar is active in the cohousing movement, giving talks on the subject and leading tours. He and his wife, Molly, are founders of Sheeflee Cohousing, which is working to build a 26 home cohousing neighborhood near Charlottesville, Virginia. For the past nine years, Peter,… Read More

Those of us on the marketing teams of cohousing communities are well aware that cohousing is not yet embedded in the American culture. In fact just the opposite. Americans pride themselves on their independence. We at Wolf Creek Lodge recognize the need to first educate those with an interest in cohousing. Only then will they… Read More

Final construction details are near completion as we prepare to move into our Durham Coho building in August. As the first self-developed urban cohousing community in North Carolina, we are mighty proud of our accomplishment. We take special joy in the recent additions of beautiful gardens, of artistic “sails” on our rooftop terrace, and of… Read More

Carolyn Dyer of Iowa City Cohousing, still forming, posted their marketing plan to the Cohousing-L email list a week or two ago. I thought it contained many new ideas and asked her if I could share it here. She said yes so here it is. I particularly liked their use of speakers on related topics,… Read More

Yours with Words Ever since working on my high school newspaper (1965-67), I’ve wanted to be a journalist. While that has by no means been the only thing I’ve wanted to be, communication has been one of my enduring passions. Slowly, over the decades, I’ve succeeded. Starting in the 80s I occasionally authored magazine articles… Read More