Mar
20
With downsizing expectations, if you’re like your neighbors, you’re taking a sober look at your bottom line values and priorities – and family and local community top the list. According to Chicago Tribune, real estate trends for 2009 are for smaller home, more apartments and attached housing, with rental units, common green spaces and proximity to shops and restaurants. The focus is on creating community, where developers provides social features beyond land, bricks and mortar. For my money though, you’ll be closer to actually realizing that goal in a cohousing community.
Cohousing is lifestyle concept pioneered in the 1970′s for people who want to live with minimum environmental impact, and to cultivate deeper connections with people who share their values. Families commit to making the community work as a cohesive social unit, and meeting potential neighbors and friends to understand obligations and shared values is part of deciding if the community and lifestyle is a fit .
Asa midlife wanting more from a home cohousing may fit the bill. There’s usually one to a few dozen attached or single-family homes situated along walkways or a courtyard, and a common house as the social center. A common area includes a dining room and kitchen, lounge, recreational facilities, kids space, laundry and workrooms for celebrations, activities, and optional group meals a few times a week. Usually smaller homes with higher upfront costs to meet green standards, the shared costs of common spaces provide savings over time.
The cohousing concept arrived from Denmark in 1991 with the completion of its first multi-generational neighborhood in Davis. Elder Cohousing Neighborhoods also exist for older adults looking for ways to enjoy being with others while still living independently. In addition to strengthening resilience, social ties prevent isolation as partners pass away, and there’s always someone to do repairs, not to mention the cost savings as people contribute their skills.
Part of that resilience might be measured by the low foreclosure rates – only one among the thousands of units in the US. If people lose their jobs or can’t pay their mortgages, the networks make a difference in helping them find a way to work through it.
Start with theCohousing Association for financing, where community banks and lending institutions in Denmark may be options.
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My husband and I found each other about 5 years ago in the second halves of our lives. We brainstormed what kind of neighborhood would be perfect for us; decided to dream big; and now are ready to embark on a project to invite community members to Trillium Creek, a sustainable community in the making in the midst of redwoods and creeks, as well as walkable to Arcata, a small universtiy town in northern coastal CA. We are intending maximum affordability possible, multigenerations, and to live the rest of our lives in nature and community there. Take a look! http://www.trilliumcreek.org.
What a beautiful piece of land, Peggy, and fulfilling just the kind of vision and values we’re seeing with lots of midlifers. Thanks for sharing it – and good luck! – let us know if one of your future neighbors found you through us! Jennifer