I The Cohousing Association welcomes blog posts from anyone in the cohousing movement

Our monthly cohousing meeting was the Saturday morning after the election. Many of us at Rocky Hill Cohousing gathered feeling sad, angry, upset, dazed, and fearful as a result of the election of Donald Trump for President. We began by watching a three minute old Monty Python video, “Dennis the Constitutional Peasant,” which seemed quite… Read More

We know that our vision and our values, whether fully articulated or unconscious, have a powerful influence on the direction of our lives. In a cohousing project such as this, the careful articulation of our mutual vision and values will lead us to the kind of community we’re seeking. It will set the stage for… Read More

“5 Reasons To Consider Joining A Cohousing Community” in The Good Trade is this week’s take on the benefits of cohousing, written by a member of Fair Oaks EcoHousing. This blog’s aim is to search for ideas creating positive social change. Certainly fitting to count cohousing in this category, as our communities are ideal social… Read More

This Wired Magazine article recently published, Want to Survive Climate Change? You’ll Need a Good Community (authored by Eric Klineberg), underscores what we already know: that good neighbors and a resilient community can make all the difference in maintaining us through crisis. Remember the blistering heat of 1995 that killed hundreds of people in Chicago?… Read More

Approximately seventy-five cohousers, researchers, aspiring cohousers, and graduate students attended a symposium on elder cohousing research in Wilmington, North Carolina, on October 27, sponsored by the College of Health and Human Services of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and AARP. Among the presenters were Alice Alexander, Executive Director of the Cohousing Association of the… Read More

Baby Boomers have kicked the birdies out of their nests and downsizing from years of accumulating the detritus of life. Millennials are finding it increasingly difficult to find low cost housing for themselves. One lifestyle that’s getting some traction is that of living in a community whether it being a traditional retirement village or having… Read More

“We evolved to live in community, and that seems to be the scale where we can best navigate the complexities of life-experiences of people not like us, the fragility and resilience of the web of life that surrounds us. When we live connected to a community, we are more likely to become champions for one… Read More

Recently I was conducting a facilitation training with co-trainer María Stawsky The weekends run from Friday morning through Sunday afternoon and are a mix of presenting material, answering questions, conducting practice exercises, and facilitating live meetings. That said, we emphasize the last approach above all others: devoting three-fourths of every weekend to having students prepare… Read More

Last month on Cohousing-L, a timely topic was sparked by the sharing of Courtney Martin’s excellent New York Times article mentioning cohousing, Modern Housing with Village Virtues. How do cohousers get journalists to care about the topic? To really put in the research and get the facts right? To ensure the human element is carried… Read More

In 2000, Bryan Bowen was part of a team of architects working to design Wild Sage, a cohousing community of 34 townhouses in Boulder, Colorado….By the time Wild Sage was completed 12 years ago, Bryan and his wife, Dale Deegan, then pregnant with their first son, Eli, were among the residents moving in. Eli’s younger… Read More

After two and a quarter years after move in, my Durham Cohousing is considering how to address turnover, when one of our members leaves the community. For many, the thought of valuable members leaving is disconcerting, as is the question of how to ensure new members will fit into the community, but we recognize the… Read More