This post –and others after this– will show examples of cohousing that has been built in cities.
These urban examples are more relevant for what we could do in Providence: they squeeze 15 – 70 condo units onto a land parcel of limited size, and still try to optimize public spaces — and try to make everything look good.
- If you like an example, please post your vote –in the comments section below the post.
- If you dislike it, if you would not want to live in a place like this, please vote NAY.
In either case, it would help us if you could add a few comments about what you liked or disliked.
Thanks.
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So, let’s start with an example built in 1998 in North Vancouver, BC, Canada.
The pictures and descriptions were found at various websites. Credit and links are given, whenever possible.
First, the photo at the top of this post was taken by Marylee Stephenson and was originally posted by Kathy McGrenera at: http://heartoncollective.com/stories/community/love-thy-neighbour-a-look-at-cohousing/
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FROM: http://www.cohousingconsulting.ca/proj%20Qv.html
Quayside Village Project Description:
Located in the Lower Lonsdale area of North Vancouver, within walking distance of the public market, seabus to downtown Vancouver, restaurants, parks, schools, and other services.
The community is comprised of
- 19 residential units,
- a 2500 sq. ft. Common House and
- a 650 sq. ft. commercial space.
The units are of mixed sizes and types with bachelor, 1 and 2 bedroom flats, as well as 2 and 3 bedroom townhouse units.
There are four homes that were sold that qualify as affordable as defined by BC Housing …
… one [affordable] rental unit was retained by the [cohousing] community.
There were certain requirements to qualify to purchase or rent these units. The rental home was built as a Universally Accessible unit and all common areas are wheel chair accessible.
The site is very compact at less than 1/4 of an acre. Townhouses with ground level entries serve the needs of the families with children. A common courtyard connecting to the common house provides child friendly play areas in this dense urban community.
Apartment style homes on the upper floors have spectacular views of the mountains, Burrard Inlet and downtown Vancouver.
The common areas includes a rooftop deck and meditation room on the third floor, providing all residents with access to the inspiring views. On the ground level are the community gardens, a small courtyard, and a commons space with kitchen, dinning room, children’s playroom, guest apartment, laundry, craft room, and office.
Quayside ground floor layout:
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FROM: https://sites.google.com/site/quaysidevillage/home
This is the official website for Quayside Village.
… The Urban Courtyard at Quayside Village is an inner crossroads. This is a place where neighbours meet, stop for a chat or greet one another in passing. The design incorporates a water feature and trellised vines that reach to the fourth floor, the top story. The intent of the design throughout the project is child friendly.
… On the third level in the southwest corner there is a large deck and an octagonal reading room with a 270-degree city, water and mountain view…
Contact us through our email: quaysidevillage@gmail.com
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…Quayside Village is a community consisting of 14 independent units, from a two story townhouse like dwelling to single bedroom units which from outside looked like any condominium building. But nearly all unit doors opened facing one another and the communal courtyard (full of flower beds, a gardener’s delight!)
https://connectcohousiing.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/quayside-court-yard.png
The Village has … a basement car park and a recycling room. The dining room becomes a communal entertainment center whenever a movie is shown for the benefit of all interested. All this while one could have one’s unit to go to enjoy privacy and cosiness of one’s own home. …
The group activities, including gardening, communal cooking / and cleaning afterwards have interested families or a couple of individuals who organise and manage the events, something that makes residents more engaged if they liked to.
In fact engagement in the activities of the Quayside Village was one of the initial requirements for the founders and the whole process of creating the village. Because all cohousing endeavours begin with a few people who have to collaborate and have inputs at all levels of the enterprise’s stages, finding like minded people, finding locations, dealing with many different ways of financing, the architects and developers and so on.
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A very insightful and heartwarming story was written recently by Kathy McGrenera.
This story describes how the project started, what life is like for one mother and her daughter, who grew up here.
It is posted at http://heartoncollective.com/stories/community/love-thy-neighbour-a-look-at-cohousing/
Below are some excerpts from her article (I added the bold emphasis):
“In 1996 I joined three women who were determined to start a cohousing project in North Vancouver. Now, nearly 20 years later, it remains one of the best decisions of my life.
At the time, those three wise women were in their 60s. I was approaching 40 and wanting to have a baby as a single woman. I knew I would need “a village to raise a child”, and cohousing, with its community-focused approach, sounded like an ideal scenario
….
I have now been living happily at Quayside Village Cohousing with my 16-year-old daughter since she was born. Raising a child in cohousing has been a wonderful experience. My daughter, as an only child, has had the opportunity to develop sibling-like relationships with other kids in the building. She has also been blessed to have many caring adults in her life who act as different role models. Sadly, I think this opportunity is often missing in our isolated nuclear family model of living.
In a world where parents often feel they need to be aware of their child’s safety at all times, my daughter has wandered freely all over our community since the age of three. To make sure I knew where she was, or could find her easily, I taught her to leave her shoes outside the door of whatever home she was visiting.
…
Meanwhile, to ensure housing affordability, early on, and in collaboration with the City of North Vancouver, we decided to offer one affordable rental unit in the community and four below market units that sell in perpetuity at 20 per cent below market value. By doing so, we ensure the opportunity to live in cohousing remains accessible, regardless of income.
Despite all of its benefits, living in cohousing is not without challenges. … To deal with these conflicts, it is important that people remain conscious of the many benefits there are to living in close contact with our neighbours. When we can remember we share a community and many common interests, we have much more motivation to work through the difficulties.
In many instances, the conflicts we face can be blessings in disguise. One of the people at Quayside I initially found the most difficult has now become one of my dearest friends. By discussing the challenges I was experiencing and attributing to her behaviour, I came to understand a new perspective. Through our on-going conversations and exchange of ideas, we have built a friendship and my world has become that much richer.
Perhaps one of my favourite things about living in cohousing is the community meals, something many cohousing communities do. At Quayside, we host common dinners on Monday and Thursday evenings at 6:15 p.m. People take turns cooking or cleaning, working alone or in a team. Our meal cycle is eight weeks. This means I usually cook once every eight weeks and during this time, get 16 yummy dinners. Meals usually end up costing about $4 each and children always eat for free. …”
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Read the whole story (don’t miss it) at:
http://heartoncollective.com/stories/community/love-thy-neighbour-a-look-at-cohousing/
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OTHER PHOTOS (found on Google Images)
The main entrance is below the down-pointing column of windows.
Notice the octagonal reading room at top right.
IMHO, this plan is a mash-up of 2 plans. Almost all of the first floor is shown, but at the right side someone super-imposed the plan of the roof deck (hiding the apartments in this area on the 1st floor).
Providence Cohousing 
