All posts by providencecohousing

Steps to Create Cohousing

February 27, 2017 providencecohousing 2 Comments

(Note: the diagram in the header is the original site plan for Westwood Cohousing in NC as presented on their website http://www.westwoodcohousing.com/details.html )

The steps to create a cohousing place can be learned by reading the stories of how some other places were created. A good summary was published by Westwood in West Asheville, North Carolina. First, what did they build?

Westwood is a cohousing community of 24 homes located near “downtown” West Asheville. Numerous shops and restaurants are within walking or biking distance. Two bus lines go into downtown Asheville, and driving access is convenient to the rest of the city and beyond. Our grounds feature gardens, landscaped commons, woods, a creek, and a bridge. The Common House has a kitchen and dining room, laundry facilities, a workshop, a library, and a den. Coin operated commercial washers and dryers are available in the Common House.

Next, they explain how they got started. The quote below is from their website at http://www.westwoodcohousing.com/details.html (I added the bold font):

History of Westwood CoHousing Community

Westwood CoHousing Community began when three circumstances converged.

The site became available (1992).
The idea [of cohousing] caught the imaginations of the owners of the Westwood property and others, and they saw the possibilities for a new community in Asheville.
In fall of 1992 a core group formed around the Westwood site and plans started to take shape.

Early in 1994 it became clear that to build the community within the property owners’ time requirements, delineation of roles was needed, including that of a full-time developer.

Not finding a suitable one in the area, the property owners (Lotte and Seymour Meyerson and their daughter Elana Kann), formed the Westwood Cohousing Development Company, with Elana as project manager.
Bill Fleming, a member of the initial group, aided her as business consultant, and together they began to manage the business side of the community development.
This included hiring professional design, legal and accounting staff.

In July 1994 the early members, the architects and their design team, and cohousing consultants devised a preliminary site plan.

Marketing of the project throughout the summer led to formation in August of a larger group called the Westwood Cohousing Future Homeowners Association, which began to meet weekly. In November 1994, through workshops offered by the Development Company, the Association members and the architects worked on site plan revisions and began to address the priorities for the buildings.

In May 1995 the workshops continued, now addressing the design programming for the common house and dwellings. At this point the Future Homeowners Association consisted of 12 future resident households. Over the next few months, the architects, with frequent review by the Association members, completed the basic floor plans. Estimated prices followed shortly. A marketing consultant worked with the Development Company and the Association for several months to help create effective marketing materials.

At public hearings in October, with several letters of support from neighbors, Westwood’s plans won unanimous approval and praise from Asheville’s Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council.

In January 1996, details on basic dwelling units and an options list were ready. In February and March the members reserved their sites, units and options. Valuable plants were moved out of the way of the bulldozers.

By June 1996 the community had 20 full members and two associate members (future renters). The Assocation and Development Company made final budget and design decisions and the Development Company began to negotiate with lenders and builders in preparation for construction.

In October, the Development Company selected a general contractor, known coincidentally by the company name of Westwood Enterprises (no relation). After months of frustrating negotiations with several local banks to obtain a construction loan, the Development Company formed a private Construction Loan Pool, with fundraising help and loans from some Association members, and by early spring 1997 had raised enough money to begin building. The property owners transferred land ownership to the Development Company.

During this time, the Future Homeowners Association selected an interim Board of Directors, formed increasingly active work teams, and heightened its social community building among members. Members started hard physical work on the site which became known as Sweat Equity Work. They built a perimeter fence and continued transplanting special foliage. Several valuable trees were felled and milled professionally. Members stacked logs on the property for later use as benches and play equipment. All this despite the fact that half the members lived outside the area and could not participate fully. In April 1997 the members signed sales contracts with the Development Company and paid large earnest deposits on their dwellings.

Construction officially began in late April 1997. By the time the groundbreaking ceremony was held in May, all the units were reserved with deposits paid. In addition, there was a waiting list for purchase, and a list developed for people interested in renting from owners who were not ready to move to Asheville when their dwellings were completed.

Also in May, the Westwood CoHousing Homeowners Association was incorporated, ready to receive the deed for the Common Elements from the Development Company when 3/4 of the buyers moved in. The Association elected an Interim Board. Some members moved into Block A in December 1997. The builder finished other dwelling blocks in phases, all the while battling rain and mud during one of the wettest winters on record. The Common House was completed during that period.

By August 1998 all units were completed and occupied. The the fall of 1998 a new Board of Directors was elected to serve terms of various years. The Development Company, at the end of the one-year warranty period, went out of business in August 1999 as planned.

Members have completed the sweat equity projects and maintained the Common Elements, doing most of the work ourselves. In the process, we have been learning to govern ourselves. Shared meals and social occasions have served to build a sense of community.

————– end of quote ————–

By all means, please do visit their website: http://www.westwoodcohousing.com/

Then go to the bottom of the page and explore some of their links. They have delightful PICTURES. Then look at DETAILS where you will find:

What is Cohousing?: A brief description.

History of Westwood: How Westwood was created.

The site plan: Our original site plan.

The common house: Floor plans and an exterior view of the common house.

Sample Images of base plan: These images are reduced versions of several floor base plans.

Westwood’s Infrastructure: A more detailed look at the heat and hot water systems.

The North Carolina Green Building database: Westwood is in it! Many technical details.

Take a look at FOR SALE/RENT where you will find some units for sale, with many photos. When I looked Feb. 26, 2017 there were 2 units listed: a one bedroom unit for $225,000 and a 3 BR for $300,000.

The INFRASTRUCTURE article is also interesting. They have a shared heating system, meaning that the hot water is boiled in one big furnace in the common house and then is piped to all the units, where it radiates from the floors.

Uncategorized

Providence Village

September 8, 2015 providencecohousing Leave a comment

Source: What’s A Village?

Providence Village started in 2015, to provide a variety of services to seniors living in downtown and the east side of Providence, plus the south part of Pawtucket.

Click on the link above for more details, on their website.

Some services are provided by member and volunteers or the paid staff and are covered by the annual membership fee. Other services are provided, at an additional cost, by outside reliable service providers that have been prescreened by the Village and, in many cases, provide discounts to Village members.

Services that Villages typically provide access to include:

Personal Services

Transportation
Assistance with electronic devices (computers, cell phones, etc.)
Help with shopping, cooking and cleaning
Help with personal care
Home healthcare referrals
Daily Check-Ins on Your Wellbeing

Home Services

Housekeeping
Yard Maintenance
Home Maintenance
Handyman Services
Plumbers, Electricians and Carpenters

Life Enrichment

Discussion groups
Clubs
Social Activities
Classes on trends in health care and independent living
Other Educational Opportunities
Arts
Fitness and Wellness Activities
Volunteer Opportunities That Make a Real Difference in People’s lives

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the way, their website was created using WordPress as well.

Uncategorized

TESTING different formats

September 6, 2015 providencecohousing Leave a comment

from https://scrawldemo.wordpress.com/html-elements/

Table

Table Header 1	Table Header 2	Table Header 3
Division 1	Division 2	Division 3
Division 1	Division 2	Division 3
Division 1	Division 2	Division 3

========================

HTML Elements

Below is just about every HTML element you might want to use in your blog posts. Check the source code to see the many embedded elements within paragraphs.

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

HEADING 5

HEADING 6

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, test link adipiscing elit. This is strong. Nullam dignissim convallis est. Quisque aliquam. This is emphasized. Donec faucibus. Nunc iaculis suscipit dui. 5³ = 125. Water is H₂O. Nam sit amet sem. Aliquam libero nisi, imperdiet at, tincidunt nec, gravida vehicula, nisl. The New York Times (That’s a citation). Underline. Maecenas ornare tortor. Donec sed tellus eget sapien fringilla nonummy. Mauris a ante. Suspendisse quam sem, consequat at, commodo vitae, feugiat in, nunc. Morbi imperdiet augue quis tellus. HTML and CSS are our tools. Mauris a ante. Suspendisse quam sem, consequat at, commodo vitae, feugiat in, nunc. Morbi imperdiet augue quis tellus. Praesent mattis, massa quis luctus fermentum, turpis mi volutpat justo, eu volutpat enim diam eget metus. To copy a file type COPY filename.

~~Dinner’s at 5:00.~~Let’s make that 7.

This text has been struck.

List Types

Definition List

Definition List Title: This is a definition list division.
Definition: An exact statement or description of the nature, scope, or meaning of something: our definition of what constitutes poetry.

Ordered List

List Item 1
List Item 2
1. Nested list item A
2. Nested list item B
List Item 3

Unordered List

List Item 1
List Item 2
- Nested list item A
- Nested list item B
List Item 3

Blockquotes

Let’s keep it simple.

Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you’d like to hear it I can sing it for you.— HAL 9000

A…….

Preformatted Text

Typographically, preformatted text is not the same thing as code. Sometimes, a faithful execution of the text requires preformatted text that may not have anything to do with code. For example:

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
    The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
    The frumious Bandersnatch!”

Code

Code can be presented inline, like <?php bloginfo('stylesheet_url'); ?>, or within a <pre> block.

#container { float: left; margin: 0 -240px 0 0; width: 100%; }

Urban cohousing

Example, urban: Cornerstone Village –Cambridge, MA

September 6, 2015 providencecohousing Leave a comment

Cornerstone Village is located at 171-195 Harvey Street in North Cambridge, a dead-end street, close to where Fresh Pond Parkway meets Rt. 2 –near the Alewife MBTA station.

Their website, the articles written about the place, and diverse photographs of people living there, demonstrate a close-knit community of happy people. Excepts follow.

http://www.cornerstonecohousing.org/

ABOUT

Cornerstone Village Cohousing began in 1993 with a group of people to develop a cohousing community in the northwest inner suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts.

Our project in North Cambridge, MA, is composed of 32 private housing units — ranging from one-bedroom flats to townhouses — and common facilities.

We are committed to living as a community that promotes sensible sharing of personal, social, and natural resources, provides a safe and stimulating environment for the growth of children and adults, and fosters beneficial relationships with the surrounding community and the world at large.

HISTORY

During the summer of 1993, Elizabeth Locke asked Marc Daigle and John Adelberg of The Cohousing Center for assistance in starting a cohousing community in the northwest suburbs of Boston. The three of them sketched out a development plan for the community and began to seek other interested people and potential sites. By spring 1994 they had found a good potential site.

In December 2001 the first group of households moved into Cornerstone…

The year 2003 … we got more practice in living together. This allowed us to refine and improve our ways of doing things — an ongoing process of community evolution. The grounds around our buildings began to show the fruits of the previous year’s work…

Late 2003 and early 2004 saw a big baby boom. We welcomed five new babies in as many months, and it became a delightfully regular sight to see infants being passed from one eager “baby holder” to another during common meals.

In late 2007 … we began to turn the open area in the center of our property from a parking lot and water retention pond into a gorgeously landscaped garden curving around and among a flat grass yard,… One of the first events in our new center yard in 2008 was a Sunday dance recital choreographed and performed by some of the younger residents. Since then the yard has been a perfect place for the children who have outgrown our community playground.

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from a website offering unit for sale:

http://soldonmls.com/default.asp?f=listing_details&listingid=429701&listingtype=2

…

Common areas include an arts and crafts room and separate playroom for children;

a large common room complete with a community kitchen and dining facility for all the residents.

There is a “quiet room” where one can read a book or organize a game or watch a movie.

There is also a wood working shop, guest room with bath that is available for residents to reserve, an exercise room, and bike storage area.

A large newly constructed room with a giant TV monitor serves as a meeting or social room.

The community has a number of celebrations and rituals that residents can choose to participate in, including a communal meal each Sunday, annual talent show, field day, spring Carnevale, Pysanky egg dyeing, music share, Halloween party, 4th of July BBQ, and many other planned and spontaneous gatherings.

Some families share childcare, others regularly attend concerts together, and children in the community will often find neighbors showing up for their school plays and sporting events.

=======================

FROM a recent article:

http://nowu.b12g.com/article/connect/sharing-responsibilities-joys-of-daily-living/17680497/index.html

Cohousing group brings generations together

Edward McClelland, NowU

OCTOBER 21, 2014

Elizabeth Locke, 68, the community’s “founding mother,” spent a decade sharing a two-apartment commune with a dozen friends…

She spent the next decade living in a single-family house, but neighbors came and went.

Then she read a newspaper article about cohousing, a type of community originating in Denmark that combines private space with common areas, such as dining rooms, lounges, gardens and libraries.

“I realized that I really wanted a community that could last through life changes,” Locke said. “People could move away and it wouldn’t fall apart. Also, the whole issue of community versus privacy was one for me. Cohousing seemed like a wonderful solution. You had the community, but you also had the space where you could go and close the door.”

Finding Acceptance

It was also a solution to the rootlessness felt by professionals who had moved to Boston for work, then had trouble finding acceptance in the city’s clannish neighborhoods. As Locke put it, her Cornerstone neighbors are “a little less than family and a little more than friends.”

Locke sought out residents through notices in newspapers and signs in public libraries. She organized dozens of recruitment meetings at local community centers and interviewed architects and contractors.

Once 15 people had committed, Cornerstone had enough funds to make a down payment on land and break ground in North Cambridge just outside Boston. By the time the development was completed, all the units had been sold…

A ‘Dream Team’ Offers Support

The close-knit community also has a “Dream Team” of doting neighbors who help residents going through difficult times. When Sue Donaldson’s partner, Julie, was diagnosed with a brain tumor, her Dream Team drove the couple to radiation treatments, fed their cat and delivered their groceries…

News

“New Real Estate concept” — Pocket neighborhoods (cohousing without a common house)

September 2, 2015 providencecohousing Leave a comment

Today (Sept. 2, 2015) Boston.com had an interesting article on pocket neighborhoods.

The headline speaks volumes:

Pocket neighborhoods try to craft the friendly feeling many areas have lost

The article claims there is a sizable demand for homes in clustered developments that encourage people to be more neighborly.

The featured project is located in West Newbury, MA (near the NH border). It has trails meandering thru an open space that envelopes the homes. A few homes are clustered around a small green. A community garden is tucked away off in back. (see site plan below).

To me, this is cohousing without a common house. It is a neighborhood without a real soul –without the spaces and activities that create a real spirit of community. Other analogies come to mind, but in the spirit of PC, let’s bite our tongues :–).

What counts though is the good intention. The take-away lesson is that real estate developers are starting to recognize that home buyers want the life-style that cohousing aims to provide.

Below are quotes from the article and a link to the website for the development. The photos come from the firm’s website.

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Quotes from: http://www.boston.com/real-estate/news/2015/09/01/pocket-neighborhoods-try-craft-the-friendly-feeling-many-areas-have-lost/gMQxYJ3Ep0bbAtIr5469LJ/story.html#sthash.d6pgIOkW.dpbs

“If you like having neighbors, “pocket neighborhoods” may be your thing. A small but growing number of new housing developments across the state are embracing the pocket neighborhood approach, in which homes are clustered together, often around a cul-de-sac, and surrounded by woods or other open space.

The latest example can be found in West Newbury, where developer Cottage Advisors is halfway through rolling out 30 homes in a new pocket neighborhood called The Cottages at River Hill

…

Prices range from $480,000 to $590,000…

…

Arrayed around a specially designed park, the River Hill homes also come with front porches designed to encourage neighborliness. The 40-foot-by-40-foot park comes with an outdoor fireplace and patio for family and neighborhood gatherings. Of the 30 acre site, just over 6 acres will be made up of homes and yards, with the remaining 24 acres reserved for communal gardens and other green space….”

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Example, urban –Jamaica Plain Cohousing

September 1, 2015 providencecohousing 1 Comment

Jamaica Plain Cohousing is located in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, south of the downtown area.
Close proximity to the MBTA Orange transit line makes this a convenient location.

This is a good example of a small cohousing project in an urban setting. On 3/4 of an acre the architects succeeded in placing 30 flats and townhouse, plus a commons room, all surrounding a courtyard, for children to play in and adults to relax in.
In style it modernizes the triple-decker apartments of Boston, that had front porches on each level. In concept and function, it is similar to European housing built around a courtyard.

Kraus-Fitch Architects, Inc. did the programming and preliminary design of the site, common house and units, as well as consulting and review for the common house design development. Full services were done by Domenech, Hicks and Krockmalnic of Boston.

The schematic birds-eye plan was made by Kraus-Fitch Architects, Inc. More photos of the completed housing can be seen at their website:
http://www.krausfitch.com/project/jamaica-plain-cohousing
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PHOTOS FROM OTHER SITES:

Google Images:

Jamaica Plain Cohousing common space — Courtyard seen from 3rd floor balcony.

Cohousing -Jamaica Plain commons — Commons space and part of courtyard. The roof now has solar panels. Photo compliments of Kraus Fitch Architects.

Google Maps:

Urban cohousing

Example urban — Cambridge Cohousing, Cambridge MA

September 1, 2015 providencecohousing Leave a comment

Cambridge Cohousing is located at 175 Richdale Ave. in Cambridge MA, halfway between Porter Square and Fresh Pond shopping plaza.

The architects have achieved a very peasant look, fitting 41 units on a tiny piece of land: 1.5 acre. It helps that much of the parking is underground. Less pleasant: the homes on the north edge overlook the commuter rail from the west suburbs into Boston. But that can be an asset: some trains stop at Porter Square.

Aerial view from Google, tilted. Rail line is at top, in back of buildings.

Residents seem very happy to be living here, based on their comments and given that only 10 people have moved out, since 1998, when 90 first moved in.

Construction was done by using modular units, which were stacked up, much like Legos. The developer has posted a website showing the method, which is fascinating to read (see link, far down below) .

In the next few sections, you will find excerpts from their website and others. Most of the photos were found on Google.

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FROM: http://www.cambridgecohousing.org/

Cambridge Cohousing is a community-designed and -developed housing project in Cambridge, MA. We are a group of people of diverse ages, backgrounds, abilities, professions and lifestyles. We are committed to creating a neighborly and cooperative community in which we know and care about one another. Children can play safely, surrounded by neighbors, and residents know that caring friends are close by. We are committed to the vitality, convenience and diversity that is Cambridge. To learn more about our goals, please read our vision statement.

Our dream has become reality on a quiet, tree-shaded 1.5 acre site, a 10 minute walk from Porter Square. The site faces south, and is close to schools, parks, shopping and public transportation.

…

If you’re in the Cambridge area, schedule a tour of the property. We also recommend that you become a Friend of Cambridge Cohousing. Membership is free and has several important perks, including priority e-mail notification of unit sales and rentals.

…

Recently, two community members, Molly and Dan Lynn Watt, sent out a holiday note that describes their lives at Cambridge Cohousing.

Holiday Season 2008-9

… We have a cozy apartment for solitude, common space for friendship, and life in Cambridge (including teaching, learning, writing, ushering, campaigning, consulting, dancing and singing, etc.) connecting us to the larger society. …here’s our update on life in “coho.” In a nutshell, it’s good!

In 1996 we joined some pragmatic idealists meeting at Cambridge Friends Meeting to plan a cohousing community—making all decisions by consensus. We were planning a village within Cambridge where we would put as many values as possible into practice.

…

Our ages ran the gamut from newborn to 80, one third were single people, one third were groups of two or more (our category), one third were families with young children (27 kids under 15). Individual homes… are different styles and sizes, 1-room efficiencies to 4-bedroom townhouses. …

We enjoy using the many community spaces: a large living room with fireplace, kitchen and dining room with 2 children’s playrooms adjoining, plus a library, workshop, and rooms for exercise, recreation, laundry, music, bike storage, and 2 guest rooms.

Underground parking, allows … a large “pretty good lawn,” a few smaller lawns, a shade garden, an open area we call “the glade,” several compost piles and a large organic garden.

We have planted many trees, shrubs and flowers and share the usual tasks. Unlike living in a single-family house, we can choose to specialize. Our responsibility— the shade garden, others shoveled the snow! The blessing of interdependence!

We hold an annual meeting to assess how we are doing on our sustainable living vision and how to do better as individuals and as a community. We use ground source heating and cooling …

Our community has aged, we are almost 11 years older. More of our 83 residents are retired, three founding members died, several youngsters grew up and moved away, six are at college. We now have only 17 residents under 17 years. …Ten of our founding households have moved on, new committed residents have moved in.

We’re eating more locally —from the coho garden, farmers markets, and a weekly box from a community-supported farm in western Massachusetts. We are a drop-off point for 67 farm shares. Three times a week we may sign up for community meals (costs based on the shopping receipts range from $2.50 to $5.00 per person, kids —half price.) …

Coho supports the wider community and world in other ways. The Fireside Reading series, curated by Molly, is now in its tenth year of readings. We host concerts of classical, folk and doo-wop; fundraisers for social justice organizations; support the Hospitality Program for Children’s Hospital; and we helped get a block party going on Richdale Avenue! …

We’ve gotten used to an aesthetic of small, densely organized living spaces. We know all our neighbors, and love participating with them to solve problems and get work done. …

We are quietly content, wouldn’t want to live any other way, and never expect to move! We will join our community’s Carol sing, Hanukah party, Christmas tree trimming, solstice celebration and New Year’s Eve gathering in front of the fire, happy to be in a community able to enjoy as many celebrations as people will step up to lead! …

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PHOTOS from other sites:

“Greenstaxx-system” was used at Cambridge Cohousing, by Oaktree Development LLC

FROM: http://www.oakdev.com/greenstaxx.php

This “Greenstaxx-system” was used at Cambridge Cohousing, by Oaktree Development LLC –a design-build firm. Building shown is actually at 30 Haven, Reading MA — 53 homes over 22,000 sq.ft. commercial space

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Play area at Cambridge Cohousing

Urban cohousing

Example, urban — Quayside Village, North Vancouver, BC

August 31, 2015 providencecohousing Leave a comment

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…

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FROM: http://connectcohousingcommunity.com/2014/03/23/live-is-better-living-together-a-glimpse-quayside-village-cohousing/

…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.

Grocery store at basement level is part of the project. Notice entry to parking garage at bottom right.

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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).

Suburban cohousing

Example: Monterey Cohousing (near Minneapolis)

August 30, 2015 providencecohousing Leave a comment

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.”

http://montereycohousing.com/about/

Suburban cohousing

Example: Newberry Place Cohousing Community, Michigan

August 30, 2015 providencecohousing Leave a comment

Newberry Place is a cohousing community in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

They have built a very well designed village, which looks upscale in quality. It is basically a tight cluster of homes creating a courtyard effect, on a very small parcel. Thus, it could be replicated on many a small, tight bit of land in most cities. And yet it looks cozy and almost suburban :–).

More at a very well designed Facebook page with many good photos:

https://www.facebook.com/NewberryPlace/timeline