WHAT IS COHOUSING?

Cohousing communities balance the traditional advantages of home ownership with the benefits of shared common facilities and ongoing connections with your neighbors. These cooperative neighborhoods are one of the most promising solutions to many of today's most challenging social and environmental concerns.

What is Cohousing?

Cohousing is the name of a type of collaborative housing that attempts to overcome the alienation of modern subdivisions in which no-one knows their neighbors, and there is no sense of community. It is characterized by private dwellings with their own kitchen, living-dining room etc, but also extensive common facilities. The common house may include a large dining room, kitchen, lounges, meeting rooms, library, laundry and workshops.

Usually, cohousing communities are designed and managed by the residents, and are intentional neighborhoods, meaning the people are consciously committed to living as a community. The physical design encourages social contact. The typical cohousing community has 12 to 30 single family homes along a pedestrian street or clustered around a courtyard. Residents of cohousing communities often have several optional group meals in the common building each week. ACC will have thirteen homes. This type of housing began in Denmark in the late 1960s, and spread to North America in the late 1980s. There are now more than 200 cohousing communities completed or in development across the United States and Canada.

PARTICIPATORY PROCESS.

Future residents participate in the design of the community so that it meets their needs. Some cohousing communities are initiated or driven by a developer, which may actually make it easier for more future residents to participate. ACC is acting as its own developer which means members have a lot of work to do in the planning stage.

NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN.

The physical layout and orientation of the buildings (the site plan) encourages a sense of community. The private residences are clustered on the site leaving more shared open space. The dwellings typically face each other across a pedestrian street or courtyard, and cars are parked on the periphery. The common house is often visible from the front door of every dwelling.

COMMON FACILITIES.

Common facilities are designed for daily use, are an integral part of the community, and are always supplemental to the private residences. The ACC common house has a hall for dining and gatherings, kitchen, children’s space, guest room. Like other cohousing, ACC will have playground equipment, lawns, and gardens as well. There is a 4,000 sq.ft. community garden for growing food. Each household owns a private residence ---complete with kitchen--but also shares extensive common facilities with the larger group.

RESIDENT MANAGEMENT.

Cohousing communities are managed by their residents. Residents also do most of the work required to maintain the property, participate in the preparation of common meals and meet regularly to develop policies and do problem-solving for the community.

NON-HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE AND DECISION-MAKING.

In cohousing communities, there are leadership roles, but no one person or persons has authority over others. Most groups start with one or two "burning souls" but as people join the group, each person takes on one or more roles consistent with his or her skills, abilities or interests. Like most cohousing groups, ACC makes their decisions by consensus. Although many groups have a policy for voting if consensus cannot be reached after a number of attempts, it is rarely or never necessary to resort to voting.

NO SHARED COMMUNITY ECONOMY.

The community is not a source of income for its members. Occasionally, a cohousing community will pay one of its own members to do a specific (usually time limited) task, but more typically the task will simply be considered to be that member's contribution to the shared responsibilities.

HOW DOES COHOUSING DIFFER FROM OTHER KINDS OF SHARED LIVING OR FROM OTHER "INTENTIONAL COMMUNITIES?"

Some people involved with cohousing like to describe their communities as "intentional neighborhoods," rather than "intentional communities." This is probably because the term "intentional community" frequently connotes a shared religious, political or social ideology rather than simply the desire to have a deeper sense of community with their neighbors, some of whom might be quite different from themselves.

PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT COMMON MEALS.

Cohousing communities usually prepare between two and four meals per week in their common house. The meals are prepared by a team of 2-4 persons for however many eaters sign up for the meal in advance. Eating common meals is always voluntary. In a few communities cooking is also voluntary, but in most cases it is not. However, there is a good deal of variation in the way the cooking (and cleanup) responsibilities are structured. Typically, however each adult is involved in meal preparation and/or cleanup once every 4 or 5 weeks. There is also variation in how the common meals are paid for, but one only pays for the meals one eats. Common dinner prices typically range from $3.00 to $5.00.

Many cohousers feel that common meals (even if some people's schedules permit them to attend only irregularly) are the glue that holds cohousing communities together. A common meal may be the only time in a busy week when we get to have a real conversation with our neighbors. And if we are lucky enough to have a little extra time for some after-dinner coffee or tea and conversation while the kids romp around in the playroom or outside if the weather is fine, so much the better.

Many communities encourage their cooks to provide a vegetarian option at most meals, and special food requirements are respected, although not every one of them will necessarily be accommodated at every meal.

HOW IS HOME OWNERSHIP LEGALLY STRUCTURED IN COHOUSING COMMUNITIES?

Although one or two cohousing communities in the U.S. are organized as limited equity cooperatives, most are structured as condominiums or planned unit developments. In what is called the "lot development model," members jointly own the common property and facilities as a Homeowners Association, and are the sole owners of the lot on which they have their own single family house. Sometimes they own just the land directly under their homes (the footprint), or that plus a small back or front "private" yard. ACC will have a HOA and there will be monthly fees to cover costs of the common house and other shared property.

WHAT IF I WANT TO MOVE OUT OF THE COMMUNITY AND SELL MY UNIT?

Any household leaving the community can legally sell their property to anyone they choose, but some communities maintain a "right of first refusal" which means that the seller must offer his or her unit for purchase by the community or to an individual or individuals within the community before putting it on the open market. In other communities, residents sign a voluntary agreement that they will not lease or sell their unit to a person or persons who do not wish to participate fully in the community. Most communities maintain a waiting list of persons interested in being informed if a unit becomes available and it is to the benefit of the seller and to the rest of the community if everyone lends a hand in finding new owners. When it comes to resales, experience has shown that homes in cohousing have held their value, and are more valuable than similar homes in the area. ACC has equity limitations that protect the growth of owner investment, but prevent speculation on the difference between original cost and market value.