What is Cohousing?
Cohousing is a very old, very traditional way of living that, regrettably, we have almost lost in modern America. But the values of community, and of knowing your neighbors, are apparent to those who embrace cohousing - which is just a name for the concept of living in a close, friendly and sharing neighborhood. These small-scale neighborhoods blend private home ownership with shared common resources. In this way, cohousing reinvents and reinterprets "The Village Green" for 21st century communities.
In cohousing communities, private self-sufficient homes are clustered around a "common house" with shared facilities such as a playroom for children, workshops, guest rooms, sitting areas and a dining area. Future residents design and develop their own community and are then responsible for its ongoing management. Having major participation from conception to birth, a cohousing community is a community long before the first key turns in the door.
A central feature of creating community in cohousing is "breaking bread" together. Generally, dinners cooked by the residents are available in the common house for those who wish to eat together. Depending on the community, once or twice a month residents volunteer to cook dinner or clean up. For all other evenings, when you get home from work you can socialize, play with your children or just relax. In an era where "neighbor knowing neighbor" is the chief deterrent to crime, cohousing above all else, is a safe place for adults and children to live and grow.
In addition to the obvious social advantages of living near friends, residents have more free time because many of the routine activities of life can be shared such as dinners, gardens and yard work. Expensive and/or rarely used tools and recreational equipment purchased by the group can be available to all. Car-pooling is easier to arrange.