Cohousing gets more media coverage – it’s not a co-op, not a commune

New York magazine ran a very good article on Cohousing, a couple weeks ago.

Perhaps you’ve been wondering about the concept – what is it, who does it, how does it work, and are there any cohousing developments in the Greater Boston area?

First, a definition from cohousing.org:

Cohousing is a type of collaborative housing in which residents actively participate in the design and operation of their own neighborhoods.

Cohousing residents are consciously committed to living as a community. The physical design encourages both social contact and individual space. Private homes contain all the features of conventional homes, but residents also have access to extensive common facilities such as open space, courtyards, a playground and a common house.

The “homes’ can be free-standing, single-family homes or multi-unit housing, for example, a condominium or co-op. The “shared” space is open to all who live there.

The “community” aspect is central to the concept.

In a cohousing community, you know who lives six houses down because you eat common meals with them, decide how to allocate homeowners dues and gratefully accept a ride from them when your car’s in the shop. You begin to trust them enough to leave your 4-year-old with them. You listen to what they have to say, even if you don’t agree with them at first, and you sense that you, too, are being heard.

Cohousing residents generally aspire to “improve the world, one neighborhood at a time.” This desire to make a difference often becomes a stated mission, as the websites of many communities demonstrate.

In many communities, it is expected, but not required, that members will join in at least some of the communal events – eating meals together, offering to prepare meals on occasion, coming together during non-work hours.

The New York magazine article was about a group of Park Slope (Brooklyn) families that have banded together to explore the idea of creating a cohousing arrangement by purchasing a piece of property, converting it into multiple residential units, then occupying it.

A co-housing community is not a commune, where the group owns everything and it’s share and share alike. Nor is it your grandparents’ kibbutz: The only communal farming involved is gardening (and it’s optional). It’s also not for hippies, or at least not poor ones—this particular co-housing group will be on the hook for some substantial dough, to the tune of $16 million, if it succeeds in purchasing and subsequently renovating an old mattress factory on the southern fringe of Park Slope. In fact, from a legal point of view, what the group is creating is simply a co-op in which everyone has their own piece of the housing.

But this is no co-op. It is a fundamentally different way of living from other domestic arrangements now available to New Yorkers—one that speaks to people who want to own an apartment but not feel shut off by it, lost in an impersonal city. In exchange for paying above-standard real-estate rates for one of 30 smaller-than-usual apartments (a 660-square-foot two-bedroom might cost about $500,000), the group’s members will share 11,000 square feet of common areas—including a “great room” and community kitchen, a children’s playroom and an “adults-only lounge,” four guest rooms for visitors, a courtyard, and a wine cellar. The supersize amenities are all meant to encourage a socially porous lifestyle, with people dropping in and out of one another’s apartments; splitting maintenance and gardening tasks; attending weekly meals in the great room; and reading and chatting in chairs positioned outside their doors, which are envisioned to stay mostly open.

Now, to some, the idea of “sharing” is an anathema. Even those who live in condominiums, those who are used to being in close proximity to neighbors, to sharing ownership, may feel it’s too “close”.

Those people will probably not like cohousing.

There are plenty of people, however, who feel that creating a community is a wonderful thing to do. The NY mag article and cohousing.org site can be very helpful in learning more.

There are two local cohousing developments that I’m aware. Both, as you might suspect, are in … Cambridge! I’ve been to one of them – in the Cornerstone Village project. The other is called Cambridge CoHousing. The Cornerstone project has 32 units spread out amongst several multi-family homes. It seems to be a very comfortable place to live. The individual units I saw were in good shape, spacious, and attractive (and sunny). The hallways were simple, homespun. Several doorways were decorated and a few people had put chairs along with bookcases or small tables in their vestibules, implying that these owners spent lots of time sitting and talking with (waiting for?) neighbors. The common space was expansive. The kitchen and dining room were not “homey” but comfortable.

There are also projects in Berlin and Northampton, Massachusetts.

Cohousing is not for everyone, that’s for sure. But, it should not be ruled out. If you’re looking for closer friendships and a sense of community that is often missing when you’re living in a city, I urge you to learn more about it.

Cohousing logo courtesy of cohousing.org

Related posts:

1. Boston real estate roundup for Tuesday, March 23, 2010
2. Artists-only condo housing available in South Boston
3. Christian Science Center Plaza plans revamped; preservation desired
4. Casting Call: are you collectively buying a home with friends?
5. North End developer can’t catch break, 3+unit expansion denied