ISO new cottage community

[ccquiltr]

I really enjoyed reading the article in the first issue about new cottage communities being built around the country. Does anyone have information about specifically where they are sprouting up? Any in the southern NH area?
Thanks,
CC

[Elizabeth]

Hi CC - I agree, I loved the article about the Cottage Community in Seattle! I think it is actually part of a new kind of development called Cohousing. Yeah, I know, it sounds like some kind of hippy commune, but it's not; it's just a new way of building neighborhoods. It started in Denmark (those clever Danes) and then was brought to the US by two architects. The basic ideas are all the same as you saw in the Cottage Community: each house is a full house, private and independently owned, but houses face a common green, share some common space like a common house and often laundry, tool shed, etc., parking is on the periphery so neighbors walk through the neighborhood and see each other on front porches, etc... Doesn't it sound *great*? My husband and I are definitely looking for this kind of development as we start to think about buying a house. A lot of times neighbors share things like childcare or weekly potluck dinners too. Apparantly there's all different kinds of cohousing groups: some are urban, some are suburban or rural, some are all new buildings, some are retrofits; some are all single-family detached homes, but some include flats or duplexes... I think they all are bought and sold as condominiums or something like that. Neighbors meet to decide issues like landscaping, etc.

A great resources is the website of the Cohousing Association Website, which has a list of all the existing cohsouing neighborhoods, and all the groups that are trying to get a cohousing neighborhood built, around the country (and some abroad): http://www.cohousing.org/cmty/groups.html

There's also a book written by the two architects who brought the idea to the US: CoHousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves by Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett.

And if you're wondering why I know so much about it: a few years ago when I was working as a journalist, I wrote a feature article about the organization, which you can read online at http://www.eastbayexpress.com/issues/2001-08-15/feature.html
Even though I'm now sold on the idea, as you can see in this article I considered both the positives and the negatives. Living in community is not for everyone!

[ccquiltr]

Thanks for the links, Elizabeth! Alas, there aren't any cohousing communities either already established or in the planning stages here in NH. I'll stay on the lookout, though. And thanks for the article link, too. It was certainly informative. :) CC

[raines]

Just because you don't see a community currently on the list doesn't mean there isn't interest in Cohousing in the area. We have resources to help people launch new groups and reach others interested in Cohousing. Start by filling out the info-request form on our website to get into our database and then call a meeting, get it on our calendar, get an article in our magazine, place a classified ad.... a very minimal investment can help you get a core group together quickly, and once you have 3 households, you can then be on the communities list and build it from there.

Elizabeth, it's great to hear of your continued interest in Cohousing. I still have a few (paper) copies of the East bay Express article that I share at local meetings and national conferences. I also delight in telling people about your reaction when visiting Swan's Market Cohousing for a common dinner while you were working on the story: "I've run into more people I've already done stories on living in cohousing." It's such a great support platform for activists (and perhaps also a reflection of tolerance for meetings/process).

Raines Cohen
volunteer boardmember
Cohousing Association of the United States (Coho/US)
http://www.cohousing.org/