Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Home for sale in Swan's Market Cohousing, Oakland CA

[Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

Very interesting.  Frankly, I *have* been thinking of cohousing evolving into a 
consumer product.  I know many of those affiliated with CohoUS think of 
cohousing as a growing “movement”.  A picture of the future that makes sense to 
me is that one day, home hunters will be able to select from among a broad and 
diverse range of successful cohousing communities, just as today they have a 
wide range of single family homes from which to choose.

The thing to keep in mind is this:  Cohousing is not really about architecture 
(although good design can play an important supporting role).  Cohousing is 
about the voluntary social contract.  Unfortunately, not all established 
communities do a good job of explaining their contract to home-hunting 
candidates.  Or even to themselves.

------------------
Thanks, RPD
Cornerstone Cohousing, Cambridge MA
617.460.4549

On March 10, 2023 at 9:29:32 AM, Anne Geraghty (abgwalks [at] gmail.com) wrote:

Cohousing is not a consumer product. Cohousing is created by the people who 
want cohousing - the future residents. It’s not easy to create cohousing. 
Decisions related to cost are some of the most difficult.  

People who want to buy into a cohousing community after it’s built may not like 
what has been created either in terms of the design or the price.  

They then have the opportunity to work together with others to create what they 
do want in terms of design and price. It isn’t easy because, as has been well 
stated by others, housing prices and construction costs have soared in all 
sectors.  

But, it is possible for homeowners such as Virgil who live in homes that are 
affordable because they’ve lived in them for many years, to come together to 
create retrofit cohousing in their current neighborhoods. They can do this one 
house a time working with their neighbors to create places to meet for meals 
and community endeavors. Some that live next door to each other can tear down 
their fences to create community outdoor spaces. Eventually they can have a 
group of houses that are related and do things together. A great example is N 
Street Cohousing in Davis California that includes both homeowners and renters. 
It was created one existing house at a time and now has over 20 units.  
https://nstreetcohousing.org/

Creating cohousing is not easy. It takes a strong vision and work over many 
years to create cohousing communities. But it is worth the effort.  

Virgil, you very likely have potential future cohousers from your town that 
would love to work with you to create such a community. Wishing you good luck 
in creating something right where you are.  

Anne Geraghty
Washington Commons under construction now in West Sacramento, CA.  

PS this is my first post. Hope I’ve done it right.  
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