Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Number of Adults Living in Cohousing

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

We know the number of (declared) coho communities … but if we knew number of 
coho *dwelling* units, we could make a more accurate estimate.  Better still, 
it would be great to know number of units in each size configuration: studios, 
one-bedrooms, two-bedrooms, and so on.

So little data, so little time …

Thanks,
Philip Dowds
Cornerstone Village Cohousing
Cambridge, MA

> On Jan 6, 2016, at 11:59 AM, Alice Alexander <alicecohous [at] gmail.com> 
> wrote:
> 
> 
> If we assume an average of 60 people (of all ages) living in each community
> (a big assumption - is this a good one?), that translates to 158* x 60 =
> 9,480.
> 
> *The Cohousing Directory <http://www.cohousing.org/directory> includes
> metrics - which relies on self reporting in most cases, so it is not exact.
> Established Communities = 158
> Completed = 133
> Building* = 25
> Own Site = 21
> Forming = 97
> ** Many building communities have residents but continue to add members and
> build homes.*
> 
> Alice Alexander, Coho/US Executive Director
> 
> On Wed, Jan 6, 2016 at 9:21 AM, Ann Zabaldo <zabaldo [at] earthlink.net> 
> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> Catya — this is a good start.
>> 
>> What do you think is a reliable number for the number of completed
>> cohousing communities?  I’ve heard and seen everything from 120 to 150.
>> 
>> What number would you use for average number of households per community?
>> 
>> Ditto average household size?  I guess this would include children?
>> 
>> Best --
>> 
>> Ann Zabaldo
>> Takoma Village Cohousing
>> Washington, DC
>> Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
>> Falls Church, VA
>> 703.688.2646
>> 
>>> On Jan 6, 2016, at 9:01 AM, Catya Belfer <catya [at] pobox.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> We could probably figure it out by number of communites x avg number of
>>> units x avg household size?
>>> 
>>> 
>>>    - cat
>>> 
>>> Catya Belfer   -  www.catya.org
>>> Technical Director   -   www.cohousing.org
>>> Cohousing in MA - www.mosaic-commons.org
>>> 
>>> On Tue, Jan 5, 2016 at 8:54 PM, Ann Zabaldo <zabaldo [at] earthlink.net>
>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Hi Raines!
>>>> 
>>>> The Cohousing Research Network did collect a lot of this information but
>>>> reported it in percentages.  I need numbers.  I’ve emailed both Diane
>>>> Margolies and Angela Sanguinetti for the data.  I’m hoping to hear from
>>>> them.  However, just in case, I’m hoping someone out there has a number
>>>> they are using …
>>>> 
>>>> Let us know how this shared pool is going to work. It sounds very
>> useful!
>>>> 
>>>> Best --
>>>> 
>>>> Ann Zabaldo
>>>> Takoma Village Cohousing
>>>> Washington, DC
>>>> Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
>>>> Falls Church, VA
>>>> 703.688.2646
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> On Jan 5, 2016, at 8:41 PM, Raines Cohen <rc3-coho-L [at] raines.com>
>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Hmmm, how about we all count off. OK, "1". Who's next? ;-)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Seriously, this sounds like a job for the Cohousing Research Network
>>>>> members. I know that some folks (me included) are collaborating on
>>>> starting
>>>>> to build a shared pool of data like this, particularly for senior
>>>> cohousing
>>>>> communities but also with an eye to intergenerational communities. But
>>>> this
>>>>> is just getting started, and doesn't even have a baseline set of
>>>> statistics
>>>>> yet.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I'll ask my wife Betsy Morris, who did some of the initial
>>>>> communities-census data as Research Director for Coho/US and is part of
>>>>> that collaboration.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Note that the Communities Directory (curated by Fellowship for
>>>> Intentional
>>>>> Community, but also serving the directory on http://www.cohousing.org
>> )
>>>> has
>>>>> become less useful for this kind of statistic, as it has stopped asking
>>>>> questions including # of children that could be used to discriminate
>>>>> against a protected category in housing rental/sales (look up
>> "steering"
>>>> in
>>>>> a fair housing context), even though we only hope to use this data for
>>>>> good, to make it easier for more people to find and live in community.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Raines
>>>>> 
>>>>> Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach & Cohousing California Regional Organizer
>>>>> Planning for Sustainable Communities (at Berkeley (CA) Cohousing)
>>>>> off to visit communities in Tucson (AZ) this week while at a nearby
>>>>> conference
>>>>> _________________________________________________________________
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Alice Alexander
> Executive Director
> www.cohousing.org <http://www.cohous.org>
> [image: The Cohousing Association]
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