I joined Driftwood about two years ago at a time when the group had been formed, land bought, and consultants and architects hired.  I found myself frustrated with our monthly General Meetings because I always wanted more exploration of the ways other communities had done things and the meanings of different choices. There simply wasn’t... Read More

Throughout 2020 forming cohousing communities have been enjoying the benefits of the Community Launch program with CohoUS.  We’re making it even better for 2021.  Jennie Lindberg of Sunnyside Village Cohousing describes her experience with the program this way: I want to give a big “shout out” to the Community Launch program at CohoUS. As a... Read More

The Community Partnership Program: Win-Win for Communities and Coho/US! Anyone who has participated in a Coho/US conference knows how much they learnedindividually – and the wealth of information and experience they brought back to their homecommunity. When a community joins the Community Partnership Program, every member getsunlimited access to all of the online conferences. That... Read More

A series of questions were posted to Cohousing-L, the cohousing listserv: How much, if anything, do you charge members or members’ guests per night in the common guest room? How much, if anything, do you charge members who use common spaces for work or income earning meetings? How much, if anything, do you charge members... Read More

Affordable housing: As with any kind of housing development, affordability will vary considerably based on location, design, site requirements, common amenities, and availability of public or private subsidies. Many cohousing communities actively seek ways to make more of their units affordable. Some states or municipalities require developers of multi-family housing, including cohousing developme

Several years ago there was a post on Cohousing-L related to the community’s legal documents that were written in “legalese.” I had recently researched Plain English for Lawyers for a neighbor. She was a single parent trying to set up legal guardianship and financial oversight for her daughter in the event of her death or... Read More

After 10 years involved in self-developing Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage, marked for me with some serious and in retrospect unnecessary growing pains that cost us dearly, I’d like to recommend an invaluable resource I wish we’d had earlier. It’s an online course excellent for forming communities who want to avoid some of the painful process... Read More

…to all of you cohousers who keep your various official documents, minutes, site map, consensus log, new-member orientation materials, etc. on-line – what software or product are you using, and how well does it work for you? Muriel at Shadowlake Village, Blacksburg, VA At Nubanusit Neighborhood and Farm we store everything on Google Drive. We’ve... Read More

Editor’s Note: Learn more from a webinar on reserve studies we are planning with National Condo Advisors for January 2017; and at the 2017 National Cohousing Conference, where Darlene, and cohousers Sharon Villines and Lyons Witten will be presenting about reserve studies. Also at the conference, National Condo Advisors will be exhibiting as part of... Read More