Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Opportunity to live in an already established Cohousing Community!

[Joan Engebretson (jruhela]

Not sure what the latest is on the idea of collecting "slice of life" notes
about the advantages of living in CoHousing, but these comments would fit
in well there, I think.


>        We've lived in Winslow Cohousing on Bainbridge Island,
>Washington since April, 1992 and we love it!  We know all of our
>neighbors, we eat five meals a week in the common house, we share 2 1/2
>acres of common outdoor space.  We have easy social interactions for
>ourselves and our child without having to make plans weeks in advance.
>Our child has much more freedom than in a single family neighborhood and
>we feel safe letting her wander on our property with her friends, even
>though she's only 3 years old.  She can almost always find a friend to
>play with and has access to the whole common house as well as our
>private houses.
>
>        We get a lot of appreciation for the work we do in the community
>and feel like we really help make this a wonderful place to live.
>Living here saves us a lot of time normally spent planning, shopping,
>cooking, and cleaning up dinners, as well as chauffeuring our child
>around.  We find is is also cheaper to eat at the common house, and
>enjoy the easy social interactions there.
>
>        There is a lot of emotional support for the ups and downs we all
>experience.  It's also been enlightening to have such a close view of
>others relationships and parenting over a period of years.  I'm able to
>get emotional support from a wide variety of adults which takes some
>strain off a marriage and has helped me appreciate my husband's
>endearing qualities more.
>
>        We're choosing to down-size from a 4 bedroom duplex to a 2
>bedroom flat and so need to sell our home.  Our house faces south on the
>"Northeast Knoll" pathway.  The first floor has a small bedroom/office,
>a 3/4 bath (no tub), and an open plan kitchen/dining/living room.
>We've added a deck and hot tub to our private backyard.  The second
>floor has three bedrooms with large closets, and full bathroom, and a
>closet plumbed for a stacked washer/dryer, though we use it as a linen
>and storage closet and do our wash in the common house.
>
>        If you'd like more information you can get a basic information
>pack for $3.00 from Winslow Cohousing, 353 Wallace Way NE, Bainbridge
>Island, WA 98110 or Call Holly Garrett at (206) 780-5623 or send E-mail
>to ken [at] halcyon.com .