These are some distinguishing characteristics of cohousing:
- Residents participate in the planning and design of their community.
- The physical design encourages incidental, frequent contact with community members thereby increasing a sense of community.
- There are extensive shared facilities most notably the "Common House" which is designed for daily use and supplements private living areas.
- Residents take complete responsibility for organizing and managing the community.
- One remarkable feature of cohousing communities is the "Purposeful Separation of the Car" (Chris Hanson in The Cohousing Handbook). In cohousing communities, cars are parked on the periphery of the community leaving the interior walks for people. Kids in cohousing can "play in the street" all day long without danger.