Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Sharing Economy/Truly Capitalist

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

In my architectural practice specialty, eldercare, this model is often called 
“congregate care”.  The basic concept is that of a large apartment:  
bed/sitting rooms, sometimes with private bathrooms, and sometimes with 
conveniently located common bathrooms clustered with bedroom groups — all 
connected to a common kitchen / living / dining area shared by all.  Some of 
these congregate care units incorporate a small suite for a live-in caregiver / 
helper.  This is a care model that provides some semblance of conventional 
living, but at a lower cost of both construction and management.  (I’ve made 
the case before that one of the very best affordability strategies is sharing; 
the more you can successfully share — including a foundation, a roof, a boiler, 
and a car — the less everything costs …)

Yes, yes, I know that in cohousing, we’re talking about entirely independent 
living, not an assisted living care model.  Even so, the eldercare experience 
may offer instructive analogs.  The big question is, Does it “work”?  The 
answer is a resounding “Maybe … if …”

For this shared accommodation, “extended family” model to work, its 
participants must expect it, and want it, to work.  The occupants must have 
some control over who joins them, must feel like they all want to, and can, 
live together cooperatively.  They must feel like they have chosen this model 
as offering significant advantages … rather than that they were “put” in it 
because of some life failure.  They must understand that each person should 
expect to make some compromises and deferences (not so easy, perhaps, for an 
82-year-old).  And frankly, they often benefit from a “coach” (maybe the 
live-in caregiver) who can help them process their way through the inevitable 
conflicts and disappointments.

So: Will the congregate apartment model become popular in North American 
cohousing?  It’s popular in Scandinavian eldercare, from whence cometh 
cohousing itself, but in America, I think it has a long row to hoe.  One of its 
embedded characteristics is that of intentional discrimination.  While we think 
that segregation by age is OK, maybe even a plus, segregation by income or 
ownership status is far more problematic.

Thanks,
Philip Dowds
Cornerstone Village Cohousing
Cambridge, MA

> On Oct 21, 2015, at 2:45 PM, Beverly Jones Redekop <beverly.jones.redekop 
> [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> We call it the quad...and it adds another level of complication to the
> already intentional complexity of cohousing.
> 
> I love the people in the quad, and I am happy to have each of them as
> neighbours, but I don't think it was a very good idea to build it.
> 
> The rent for the four suites in this one "quad" unit is the same or more
> than rent would be for two 2-bedroom units, so there is no affordability
> advantage. I don't think they like sharing a kitchen with so many people,
> as many of them are adding kitchenette-type appliances to their private
> sitting areas. It has been occupied since 2010, but the private backyard is
> still in construction condition with no landscaping -- I think it’s harder
> for residents to define their sense of personal stewardship in this
> ambiguous space. It is just terribly rigid: our other homes can work
> interchangeably for singles, couples, or families, but the quad is
> trickier.
> 
> It would be better to have two flexible 2-bedroom units that are tweaked a
> bit to be better for equal roommates: equal-sized bedrooms, perhaps with
> separate bathrooms, and maybe two distinct pantries and coat closets.
> Perhaps the living room could have old-fashioned pocket doors to allow it
> to be two separate sitting areas as needed.
> 
> The two units could be situated beside each other to make a bit of a quad,
> but they would retain the flexibility of being able to hold other household
> types.
> 
> For the same rent that they pay in the quad, they could have 2:1 kitchen
> ratios instead of a 4:1 kitchen ratio.
> 
> That being said, if someone out there is considering this model, I could
> introduce you to residents who may see it more positively than I do.
> 
> Beverly
> www.groundswellcohousing.ca
> Yarrow, BC
> 
> 
> On Wed, Oct 21, 2015, 11:15 AM Kathryn McCamant <
> kmccamant [at] cohousing-solutions.com> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> Yarrow EcoVillage, in British Columbia, has a shared house with four
>> suites (large bedroom and private bathroom), and shared kitchen living
>> area. I hear it is working well and allows (mostly single) people of
>> various ages to rent in the community. The key is having a couple
>> community investors who are willing to own this unit.  I think in the
>> current conservative lending environment, it would be very challenging to
>> get loans for the “shares” of a unit like this. In theory, it could be
>> owned as “tenants in common” but those tend to be messy when people want
>> to sell their share. Perhaps better to keep it a rental for long term
>> flexibility and to diversify who can participate in cohousing. From the
>> plannng department point of view, it is reall just a large home with one
>> kitchen. From a community point of view, you should probably plan for
>> their being one car per resident in a shared home, unless you live in a
>> truly urban environment where people really live car-free.
>> 
>> 
>> Katie
>> --
>> Kathryn McCamant, President
>> Nevada City Cohousing and
>> CoHousing Solutions
>> 241B Commercial Street
>> Nevada City, CA 95959
>> T.530.478.1970  C.916.798.4755
>> www.cohousing-solutions.com
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 10/21/15, 10:55 AM, "Cohousing-L on behalf of Emilie Parker"
>> <cohousing-l-bounces+kmccamant=cohousing-solutions.com [at] cohousing.org on
>> behalf of emilie.v.parker [at] gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> On Wed, Oct 21, 2015 at 9:08 AM, Sharon Villines
>>> <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> As we have discussed before, if we want to have 20-somethings living in
>>>> cohousing, we need to have rental units. And/or shared living
>>>> arrangements
>>>> where young singles can have a private room and bathroom and share other
>>>> facilities.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> ​If you could get approval for a shared house in cohousing which is not
>>> the
>>> case in Boulder County right now, would you design it with a shared
>>> kitchen
>>> in addition to the common house kitchen?  Do any cohousing communities
>>> have
>>> the shared living arrangements you describe?
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----------------
>>> Emilie Parker
>>> emilie.v.parker [at] gmail.com
>>> 303-317-4558 main
>>> 240-350-8533 cell
>>> My website: www.emilieparker.com
>>> Artists Cohousing website: www.artistscohousing.com
>>> Art Cohousing Meetup:  www.meetup.com/artists-housing-community
>>> _________________________________________________________________
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>>> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
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