Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Is cohousing a consumer product?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

There have been many things said to be “not cohousing” over the years. Senior 
cohousing was taboo — cohousing has to be intergenerational. Religious focus 
taboo. No political creed. Mainstream developers — taboo. Groups thought they 
had to handle everything themselves or they would lose control. Not that any 
developers were knocking down their doors, but eventually mainstream developers 
have become involved and it has worked very well. 

The importance of a group designing the physical community is that it creates a 
long period of time in which people can come together gradually before living 
with or next to each other. This is time available to learn to adapt and 
understand each other or decide to leave. It is an opportunity to come together 
in purpose-driven activities, not just be entertained with getting-to-know-you 
potlucks or going to an amusement park. This is the time for everyone to learn 
how to make collective decisions and trust each other.

A developer couldn’t just build and sell 40+ units arranged around a green and 
a common house to 40 individual households who all move in at the same time and 
expect cohousing to happen on Monday.

The DIY model means that people begin becoming a community from the first 
meeting when they find they have a common goal. And not all of them appear at 
the same time. It’s a gradual process of incorporating people over a period of 
2-3+ years.

The architectural possibilities are not so unique they require so much 
individualization. I remember touring a large rental building of apartments 
that opened near us a few years after we moved in. I felt very odd walking 
through the units until I realized it was because they were almost identical to 
ours. Doors, cabinets,  drawer pulls, fixtures, colors, etc. Things we had 
spent much time deciding, a developer had just installed in far less time.

I’m not suggesting that cohousing professionals aren’t worth their weight in 
gold—they are—but some decisions that groups spend a lot of hours discussing 
end up being made by the costs or zoning or building codes. Standard sizes of 
wallboard, for example, will decide the height of the ceilings unless you are 
building for a high-end market. Certain materials will be available in certain 
sizes and only certain things will be technically feasible. The contractors 
will only have a certain range of skills. 

So it isn’t about the self-designed architecture, it’s about the hours that 
that process requires to build a community of people who can work together to 
get things done. It builds a core that then can incorporate more people.

I don’t know what would replicate that time and focus before suddenly taking 
charge of a $10 million housing complex. 

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org