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

When I do minutes, I do not try to provide court transcripts; I don’t have the training or the equipment, and in any event, modern audio recording devices often do that as well or better than a typist. The bigger issue, however, is that in court proceedings, the dialogs and exchanges follow a vigorously regulated… Read More

I was recently in a conversation with a friend who had just facilitated a difficult meeting for a neighboring community. Upon reflection, he felt fine when it came to working conflict and emotional distress, but felt sloppy and not well-focused when it came to managing problem solving and issue exploration. While most facilitators would report… Read More

I’m so pleased our sister organization PFAC (Partnerships for Affordable Cohousing) has made the leap in appointing an Executive Director. Wendy Wiesner is an excellent choice, having served on the board for many years to help shape and grow the organization’s important mission of promoting and establishing affordable cohousing. Coho/US is proud to be collaborating… Read More

I lived in Salina, Kansas for 31 years. Every time I left the house I ran into someone I knew, and often, knew well. Newly arrived in Burlington, I knew only my daughters and a couple of their friends. The first time I was out and saw someone I had met recently, I went over… Read More

Like all of you, I am regularly confronted with “Cohousing, what’s that?” Despite my architectural background, I am very slow to bring up anything along the lines of the development program or design features. I describe it as a social contract for a lifestyle and a culture. Informally and shorthand, I say that we agree… Read More

My neighbour just pointed us to this interview with a social scientist whose new book “How we live now” includes discussion of cohousing. It starts off with a picture of our community, Mosaic Commons (pic by Tim Pierce, article by Jessica Gross) http://blog.longreads.com/2015/08/27/breaking-the-mold/ – Breaking the Mold: Social scientist Bella DePaulo’s research reveals a broader… Read More

While many intuitively understand the benefits of living in a close-knit neighborhood, some people need numbers to convince them. That’s why members of Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage on the Maine coast conducted their own study to find out how much money typical residents will save in energy costs and in-kind goods and services. The result?… Read More

[Sarah Lozanova is an environmental journalist and communications professional with an MBA in sustainable management. She recently relocated to BelfastCohousing & Ecovillage in Midcoast Maine with her husband and two children. The article was published in motherearthliving.com] Jeffrey and Judith loved living in the quaint harbor town of Belfast, Maine, with waterfront views. They resided… Read More

I was recently selected to join a nonprofit board and attended my first meeting via teleconference. Although the bylaws stiplated that decisions would be made by consensus (I’d done my reading), the meeting was full of calls for votes, motions, and seconds. Uh oh. Had I wandered into the wrong meeting? Unfortunately, I hadn’t. I… Read More

In response to recent “aging in place” discussions on cohousing-l, I offered some thoughts on how Washington Village, a cohousing community in the heart of Boulder, Colorado, is well-suited to aging in place. From what I can tell, most cohousers don’t seem to look for cohousing in an urban environment. That may be less a… Read More