visited co-housing community

[Zoe Girl]

They invited me to dinner and it was so lovely!! I met a woman at a retreat in colorado springs, she lives in the co-housing community 3 miles from my workplace, and she invited me to a community dinner. I have been interested in co-housing for over 20 years, and this just showed up. So I got there and I knew one of the families, the daughter comes to after school programs at my school.

I have no idea what these places cost, if it is even in my stratosphere, but it is something to work towards.

[Mary B.]

One of our nieces lived in a co-housing community with her family. It was pretty nice. Their townhouse/apartment was smaller than the local average, and then there was a large communal space. As I recall the communal space had a really large kitchen/dining area -- big enough for several families to cook and eat together. There was also a guest suite (might have only been a couple of bedrooms, i don't remember) that could be booked and a few other shared things. Seemed like a great idea.

I don't know the cost, but I think it was relatively similar to owning a townhouse.

Glad you got to visit, Zoe Girl!

[sweetana3]

You can look at the classified ads in cohousing.org. They are as expensive, if not a little, more than housing in the same area. There have been many discussions on why they are not or cannot be "affordable". I like them and at one time in 1997 we checked out a new development in NC. The housing type is driven by the interest and involvement of the people who buy in and ranges across condo like with little involvement other than the buildings to high level with almost daily communal meals and such.

[Tybee]

That sounds cool, Zoe, and I think cohousing for adults is the wave of the future.

[pinkytoe]

I looked into the one here in Co Springs and thought it looked interesting as the housing is within an older, traditional neighborhood. As I recall, the houses sold for around $300K but I imagine one can rent too.

[19Sandy]

Co-housing used to be about hippie villes, now it is a money-making opportunity.

[sweetana3]

Cohousing is not a money-making opportunity. It is about groups trying to build housing on their own. It is expensive to buy land and develop it. True cohousing is not "commune" or "hippie villes" although the groups may lean more liberal in attitude. If you want to learn more about it, the website is cohousing.org

Here is what is cohousing from their website:
Cohousing is an intentional community of private homes clustered around shared space. Each attached or single family home has traditional amenities, including a private kitchen. Shared spaces typically feature a common house, which may include a large kitchen and dining area, laundry, and recreational spaces. Shared outdoor space may include parking, walkways, open space, and gardens. Neighbors also share resources like tools and lawnmowers.

Households have independent incomes and private lives, but neighbors collaboratively plan and manage community activities and shared spaces. The legal structure is typically an HOA, Condo Association, or Housing Cooperative. Community activities feature regularly-scheduled shared meals, meetings, and workdays. Neighbors gather for parties, games, movies, or other events. Cohousing makes it easy to form clubs, organize child and elder care, and carpool.

[ToomuchStuff]

I will disagree with your first sentence sweetana. Most of the builders I know of cohousing, are not individuals, but developers and they don't do it out of the goodness of their heart.
Individuals buy into them, for the amenities, such as yard mowing/snow removal, community pool, etc.
Our famous secret Santa, Larry Stewart, around the time of his terminal diagnosis, started a $30,000,000.00 development, of high end homes, with his house setup as the clubhouse (in the area it was in, it was the only house on the lake, where others get close to the lake and share the lake as dock spaces).

[sweetana3]

Few, if any, of the cohousing sites on the directory were built for profit by developers. A general might be hired to do the work on a 30 unit cohousing development but they are directed by the group of owners or founders. They are not condos with clubhouses. They are usually a set of 25-35 private homes of various sizes with a community space which could be an original house from the property, part of a larger building, or a separate building that provides amenities like a kitchen, dining room, bike storage, guest rooms, laundry that all work to allow a smaller private house for the owners.

I think we are talking about two different things. Check out cohousing.org and the directory and the list serve.

That is not to say that there are no developers out there who throw around cohousing as a selling tool. They try to convince people that having a "clubhouse" and people who might want to share gardening or such is a cohousing development. I have followed cohousing and its growth and issues since at least 1996. There is an excellent book, Cohousing, which might be at the library or is on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Cohousing-Contemporary-Approach-Housing-Ourselves/dp/0898155398/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1487946384&sr=8-2&keywords=cohousing

[ToomuchStuff]

By the definition on their site, both the one he started, and my other not posted example, would be cohousing. The clubhouse is just a name for the shared on the lake property. His property, they were building homes, not condo's.
My nephew's, most are all the same size house (geared towards those starting out, or those retiring, less stuff), where the community house is on the shared area with the pool, and tennis courts, etc. Scheduling group activities regularly, doesn't require participation, and eventually that part went away (been there for a while). They are actual houses, and in design of utilities (mowing/snow removal) are closer to that of a condo, without the outside can't do restrictions. (could garden, are responsible for the outside of your house/paint siding, etc)