To see a good example of cohousing, visit Monterey Cohousing.
This is an inter-generational community located just outside of Minneapolis, MN.
Their website is concise, elegant & delightful.
They describe cohousing very well (bold emphasis added):
“Private homes contain all the features of conventional homes; residents also have access to extensive common facilities such as open space, courtyards, a playground, and a common house…
We help each other in ways large and small. Examples include sharing information and advice, lending and sharing skills and items of all kinds, and driving each other to appointments…
Cohousing provides the privacy we are accustomed to, within the community we seek.”
Providence Cohousing 