Curious about Cohousing?

  [caption id="attachment_433" align="alignleft" width="700" caption="Dinner in Common House"][/caption]

You may have read previous blog posts about cohousing and wondered, "What is cohousing?"  If you have, you may have googled cohousing and found the website for the Cohousing Association of the United States (or CohoUS).    Good for you! 

If you haven't, then in a nutshell, cohousing is a type of collaborative neighborhood in which residents actively participate in the design and operation of their own community.  A central aspect of living in cohousing is a balance between private and community life.  Neighborhood physical design encourages walkability and social contact while preserving resident needs for private space.  Homes are conventional and privately owned or rented but residents have access to numerous shared facilities such as a community house, common green spaces, and play spaces.

Great, now you have a definition!  But you might still have many questions about what they look/feel like and why people choose to live in cohousing communities.  Perhaps because you wonder, "Would I like to live in a cohousing community?"

If you are interested in:

• Living lightly on the earth.
• Knowing and working cooperatively with your neighbors.
• Reducing your household chores (cooking, cleaning, yardwork).
• Sharing resources (woodshop, bikeshop, art space, kids play area).
• Having people check in on you when you are old, alone, sick, lonely, sad, ....(fill in the blank).
• Celebrating life's accomplishments and milestones with a group of people who care about you and want to celebrate with you.
• Living your values and having others encourage you to realize your full potential.

then you probably should be interested in learning more about cohousing.

If you’re looking for an alternative to how you live, I would encourage you to attend an informational session on cohousing – community oriented, cooperatively managed, but independently owned housing.

Who:      Open to renters and homeowners, children welcome

Where:   First United Methodist Church (Fellowship Hall) - 180 Denny Way, Seattle, WA

When:    Saturday, October 23, 2010 10:00am-12:00pm

Cost:      FREE but RVSP required        

RSVP:    http://cohousing1023.eventbrite.com

Bakhita Gardens - Affordable Housing in Belltown

[caption id="attachment_424" align="alignleft" width="700" caption="Sunshades at Bakhita Gardens "][/caption] The Housing Development Consortium organized a tour of Bakhita Gardens at 2^nd & Bell.  The project was designed by our friends at Environmental Works and accommodates two transitional housing programs for homeless women.  The project was well planned – with ingenuity and creativity to provide daylight common spaces and a strong sense of community while still providing security and supervision.  The sun-shading seemed to be effective given that the building had no air conditioning even in the common areas.  And the material selection was durable, dignified, and beautiful.  I appreciate living in a city and state where affordable housing is funded to the level it is and that there is a community of skilled architects who create a high caliber of projects.  Contractor was Walsh Construction, Catholic Housing Services was development consultant, and Swenson Say Faget provided structural engineering.

Schemata Workshop has been a member of the Housing Development Consortium (HDC) for a few years and we appreciate the tours and educational programs they sponsor as a way to keep abreast of what's happening in the affordable housing community.  Another resource we have appreciated in that regard is the Housing Washington conference that occurs each fall (Oct 19-20, 2010).  This annual conference draws 700-800 attendees from across the state (as well as a handful of out-of-staters who want to learn from what we are doing here) - ranging from housing authorities, non-profit developers, bankers, contractors, social service providers, property/asset  management companies, tax credit syndicates, and architects.  Mike and I will be doing a presentation at this year's conference (Tuesday 1:30) entitled Affordable Cohousing: Making it Work for Low-Income Families.

A culture of bicycling

I came across a recent film on cargo bikes in Denmark that reminded me of  the two months that Grace spent in Copenhagen in 2004. The photo here is from a neighborhood in Copenhagen called Christiania ("The Freehaven"), but we certainly came across them everywhere.  We made friends with a family whose father regularly shuttled his two kids around in one that looked as comfortable as any stroller seen here in the US. Here's the short film:

http://www.streetfilms.org/cycling-copenhagen-through-north-american-eyes/

Unfortunately, we've still got a ways to go before I'll be comfortable with my daughter in our bike trailer on the streets of Seattle.  I don't mind dedicated bike lanes, but sharrows don't do it for me...and seeing drivers texting on their phones while near me is unnerving.

It does seem there's a tremendous opportunity for American-made cargo-style bikes, which would hopefully make them more affordable (see CETMA, below).  Obviously, even $3K is still substantially less than the annual costs associated with car ownership.

http://dutchbikeco.com/_product_77092/Bakfiets_Cargobike_2009

http://www.cetmacargo.com/

The hills of Seattle also dictate proper gearing...very, very low to get up some hills. Here's a pic of Ella & Julia outside of Velo Bike Shop on our way up to Volunteer Park.

This Equinox Trailer is still manufactured in Oregon, and I like the flexibility of the system that they've designed.   My aunt & uncle have loaned us their trailer, but even though it's 20-years old, I could still get upgraded seat and hitch components that fit:

http://www.equinoxtrailers.com/

Copenhagen Bike Lane