cohousing charachteristics

Cohousing communities vary in their size, priorities, location, and ownership structures leaving room for the creativity of its members however, they share the following common characteristics:

  • Participatory process 

  • designs that facilitate community

  • extensive common facilities

  • complete resident management

  • non-hierarchal structure 

  • separate income sources

Myths about Cohousing:

  • Neighbors will just walk into my house/I will lose all my privacy in cohousing

  • BUT I am an introvert...I will have to talk to people even when I don’t want to or am having a bad day

  • Cohousing is a hippy-dippy wavy gravy intentional community centered around spiritual, religious, ideological, and/or a utopian society

  • I will isolate from the larger community and city because I will become so immersed in the cohousing community

Financial and ownership structures

Cohousing developments have utilized a variety of financing mechanisms and ownership structures 

  • Most cohousing communities in the US utilize a standard American condominium ownership model in which each resident privately owns their home and a portion of the common areas

    • Members pay a monthly homeowners’ association (HOA) fee that is based on the size of their individual home 

  • Preconstruction development costs are generally put up by the community members who invest in the development

WHat Cohousing is not:

o Co-living - families do not share dwellings/households does not live under the same roof

o Commune - Cohousing households does not share economy or finance the community by a shared venture

o A utopian society organized by a charismatic or religious figure

Fostering community

  • Shared meals/shared rituals

  • Shared work

    • Collaborating with community members leads to greater sense of “communitas” 

  • Spontaneous Interactions

    • The design of the pathways and infrastructure leads to community members running into each other and having unplanned interaction that could be some quick small talk or turn into a deep discussion that would otherwise require significant planning and intention to take place. In cohousing these occurrences can happen with greater frequency and come about in an organic manner. 

  • Holidays/rituals 

    • Christmas/thanksgiving

    • Winter/Summer solstice 

    • Coming of age ceremonies 

    • Marriage