Intentional Communities
Intentional communities (or cohousing) have been nicknamed “communes for adults”.
But where they differ from those that were popular in the 60s is in their careful balance
of privacy and community.
As Baby Boomers age, they're shunning the kinds of aging institutions they put their own
parents in. Their preference is to bring back a time when neighbors were an integral part of one
another’s lives, sharing chores, resources and a helping hand. They're looking for a way to
combine their autonomy with access – in this isolating day and age – to a supportive community.
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Birds of a Feather
By TIM NEVILLE
New York Times, April 6, 2007
“For some Americans approaching their golden years, choosing the right place to grow old is less about golf and weather than
about finding neighbors who share their attitudes and interests. Developments that cater to gays and lesbians have popped up
from California to Florida. Retired Jews — or Catholics and other Christians — looking to continue a life of service and
fellowship can buy homes and condos in religion-centered communities in Washington and New Jersey. Neighborhoods that attract
retired pilots have taxiways and hangars. Looking for fellow neopagan anarchist pansexuals? Try Pumpkin Hollow, an all-ages
collective in Liberty, Tenn.
Housing experts say more niche communities like these are likely to make their way to market, especially given the limited
interest baby boomers are showing in traditional age-restricted retirement housing areas — the places their parents have found
attractive.
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Boomers and their children have moved frequently and are often scattered across the country. As a result, said Maria Dwight,
chief executive of Gerontological Services, a Santa Monica, Calif., group that studies housing for the over-55 set, many in the
next wave of retirees will look for places among peers who share their interests.
“This old idea of being born in a town that you grow up in and know everybody is quite absent now,” Ms. Dwight said. “The
whole concept of community has changed dramatically in the last few decades, and now people are looking for ways to socialize.
Instead of sitting around growing old and moaning, they want to talk about plays, where they traveled, and be with people who
like the same thing. If traditional housing providers don’t create these options, you’re going to see people doing it on their
own.”
While reliable figures are difficult to find, John Parsons, publisher of Cohousing.org, an online magazine that tracks communities formed by like-minded
individuals, estimates that there are roughly 6,000 people of all ages in the United States and Canada living in communities
where residents often share specific, common interests, like vegetarianism, ecological concern or even a desire to continue
with higher education. (At University Place in West Lafayette, Ind., for example, residents can take classes through Purdue
University.)
It’s logical that baby boomers, accustomed to approaching the world on their own terms and now facing decades of retirement,
would embrace this trend. “When you get people together, you’re not only creating genuine social situations, but you’re also
creating a support network,” Mr. Parsons said.
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In a nutshell, in intentional communities -- or cohousing -- small individual houses are
typically clustered to create broad, open spaces – and share a “common house” that has interesting facilities and workshops.
If the idea of living in a community appeals to you, where your neighbors are like extended
family – whether intergenerational or over 50 – read through the information that's been gathered for you here.
The Advantages?
These are the advantages that residents of cohousing find:
In greater detail, these are the 6 common characteristics of cohousing:
And, in the specific case of ‘over 50’ elder cohousing, these
are the additional four principals that tend to prevail:
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shared vision and values
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designed for aging in place
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'spiritual eldering,’ or a self-managed and empowering environment
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environmental consciousness, in a sustainable model of living
The Price Tag for Cohousing ?
So how much does a cohousing home cost? While
this varies widely, the cost is usually similar to homes in the surrounding but, because of internal or external subsidies, is often made
truly affordable.
Homes sold for $90,000 to $114,000 at Elder Spirit, in Abingdon, VA, and monthly
dues are about $150. And Jim Sargeant, a custom homebuilder in Waxahachee, TX, is
targeting a selling price at under $150,000 for the project he is developing.
If this housing option is of interest to you, figuring out what it would cost you would depend
upon geography and availability. The resources that follow are a great place to start researching
your options!
Resources
 Two very valuable resources, both of which are spearheading the concept of cohousing, are ‘The Cohousing Association of the
United States’ at www.Cohousing.org and 'The Elder Cohousing Network’ at www.ElderCohousing.org . Be sure to click on both links to
access their extensive information.
The Cohousing Association's site also includes a wealth of articles.
Valuable Downloadable PDF Documents
Some More Reading
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Kiplinger’s RETIREMENT REPORT
Your Guide to Richer Retirement
NOTE: Kiplinger's puts out an excellent retirement report each year; be sure to pick it up. GREAT
resource!
When Neighbors Are Like Extended Family
Residents of cohousing developments grow old together in a new style of commune.
March 2007
By Leah Dobkin
Sue and Art Lloyd don't seem like revolutionaries, but since 1999 they've been on the cutting edge of retirement-housing trends.
Sue, 70, and Art, 78, are among 35 residents who live in a cohousing community located on half a city block near the University
of Wisconsin in Madison.
On Sunday nights, the Lloyds leave their three-bedroom townhome to meet their Village Cohousing neighbors at the "common house"
for a potluck dinner. Over a glass of wine, the residents of this newfangled commune-like development sit by the fireplace
talking, folding laundry and watching TV.
Sharing is key at Village Cohousing, as it is at similar communities nationwide. Several households have designated their cars
for use by other residents. If Sue needs a plumber, she'll alert her neighbors so they can coordinate the visit. Some older
residents provide child care for younger families. Not long ago, when a young neighbor went into labor in the middle of the
night, an older resident stayed with the sibling until the parents and new baby came home.
Like all of the residents at Village Cohousing, Art, a retired Episcopal chaplain, and Sue, a treasurer for her church and
several nonprofits, each spend at least 12 hours a month helping to manage the place. They serve on committees that oversee
maintenance, bookkeeping and the organic garden that provides some of the food for the twice-a-week communal meals. "Our dream
was to live in a close-knit, supportive, intergenerational community," says Sue.
If you like the idea of living in a community where neighbors are like an extended family, perhaps you should consider cohousing.
Since the first cohousing projects in the U.S. opened in the late 1980s, the number of such developments has grown to about 95 in
nearly two dozen states, according to the Cohousing Association of the United States. The developments range from the
quarter-acre, eight-unit Ujima Place in Chicago to 67-unit East Lake Commons on 20 acres in Decatur, Ga. Another 100 communities
are in various stages of development.
Most cooperative developments are intergenerational, such as Village Cohousing, where residents range in age from six months to
86. About one-third of residents in intergenerational housing are age 50 and older. A growing trend is the creation of
seniors-only cohousing. Three elder communities exist now, and about 15 others are in the planning stages.
Developers and gerontologists expect that both types of cohousing will grow in popularity as the aging Woodstock generation seeks
a way to recreate the community-like experiences of their youth. Many experts also consider cohousing a way for seniors to avoid
isolation and to find the help they need without turning to assisted-living or nursing-home care.
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Dallas News (online)
Cohousing catching on in U.S.
Move revisits commune idea in a more grown-up format
09:44 AM CST on Tuesday, January 30, 2007
By BOB MOOS / The Dallas Morning News
bmoos@dallasnews.com
Baby boomers Connie and Rex Fountain belong to the generation that made communes popular in the 1960s. Now, as retirement
approaches, they and others their age are considering another kind of collective living.
The fiftysomething Arlington couple have joined about 60 area residents interested in building their own "cohousing" community,
where neighbors treat one another like members of an extended family.
"I don't want to grow old in a neighborhood where people hide behind fences and act afraid of each other," Mrs. Fountain said. "I
want to live in a community where people sit on their front porches and visit."
Cohousing residents own their homes but share a common building that includes a kitchen, dining area and living room.
Community members enjoy meals together two or three times a week and divide up chores.
"Cohousing combines the privacy of one's own home with the security of belonging to a close-knit community where people look
after each other," said Neshama Abraham, a Boulder, Colo., consultant who works with cohousing groups.
Cohousing communities aren't cookie-cutter projects. Each is unique. Prospective residents are intimately involved in the
planning, though they may rely on an architect and developer to handle the technical aspects of design and construction. Projects
usually consist of 20 to 30 households.
The idea originated in Europe and is taking root in this country. About 5,000 people live in 93 communities, according to the
Cohousing Association of the United States. An additional 107 communities are in some stage of planning or development.
An old twist
The latest twist to the nascent trend is cohousing exclusively for people 55 and older. The first two communities opened in
Davis, Calif., and Abingdon, Va., in the past year, and a third is under construction in Boulder.
About 25 others are under discussion, including ones in the Dallas area, East Texas and the Texas Hill Country.
Experts say cohousing is suited to baby boomers, who will be looking to remain in control of their lives when they retire.
Communities reach decisions by group consensus, not by a top-down hierarchy.
A poll by the MetLife Mature Market Institute and AARP found that 22 percent of respondents 50 to 65 would be interested in
building a home to share with friends that included private space and communal living areas.
Members of several Dallas-area Unitarian Universalist churches formed the North Texas cohousing group last year because they want
to re-create the strong sense of community they remember from their childhood neighborhoods.
"We're trying to build an old-fashioned neighborhood in a new way," said Janet Martinique, a retired customs broker who
volunteered to be the group's facilitator.
The group has met several times since fall to learn about cohousing. Once enough people have made commitments to the project, Ms.
Martinique said, they will discuss possible sites and consider developers.
The 60 people who have expressed an interest in the community range in age from 50 to 75. Half are retired. Many are Unitarians,
though that's not a requirement to join. Almost all have been community activists.
Help with planning
Mary Leggitt, who's 71 and lives in Red Oak, said she looks forward to spending the rest of her life in a community she'll help
plan.
Especially appealing to her are the occasional meals the residents will take turns preparing in the common house's kitchen. "You
should know that I make a pretty mean dish of chicken," she pointed out.
Ms. Leggitt said conventional senior communities would have made her feel too much like a patient in an institution. In
cohousing, she said, she'll keep her independence and have a say in managing the community.
"I'll also have the comfort of knowing my neighbors are nearby if I need help," she said.
In senior cohousing communities, residents pay for their own home health care when they require it. But their collective living
arrangements may enable several to share the cost of a single aide.
Experts say cohousing isn't for everyone. The planning often takes two years or longer. Residents meet regularly to talk about
what their community should look like and what everyone's responsibilities should be.
"Give-and-take is the name of the game," Ms. Abraham said. "People who think they always should get their way will find they
don't have the right personality for cohousing and will weed themselves out of the group."
As a group moves ahead with hiring an architect, lining up a developer and arranging the financing, members cover those costs.
Ms. Abraham said the upfront fees usually amount to 5 percent of a home's cost.
Experts say cohousing isn't necessarily cheaper to buy than conventional homes of comparable size, but the communities' emphasis
on energy efficiency and shared living arrangements may produce some long-term savings.
"Thirty households might be able to get by with one lawnmower, for example," Ms. Abraham said.
Residents typically pay homeowners' dues to keep up the common areas. Depending on the community, residents do the gardening and
maintenance themselves, or they hire outside help.
Cohousing groups can trim months, if not years, off the planning process if they work with developers who understand this kind of
housing, but finding such builders can be challenging, according to Charles Durrett, the California architect who's credited with
bringing the cohousing concept to America.
Tightrope walk
"Groups walk a tightrope here," he said. "They need to find a developer who will guide them through the process without
controlling it."
Cohousing projects don't appeal to many developers because they're small and out of the ordinary, Mr. Durrett said. Still, they
appeal to some because they offer builders a group of committed homebuyers and, therefore, less risk.
Jim Sargent, a custom homebuilder in Waxahachie, said he's interested in developing senior cohousing on land he owns in Red Oak.
He said he considers most suburban housing a failure and wants to right a wrong.
"Nobody knows his neighbor anymore. That's OK as long as you work. But once you retire, you're alone all day in a big house," he
said. "Your friends don't have to be across town; they can be across the courtyard."
Mr. Sargent said he'd like to begin construction by the end of the year and price his homes under $150,000.
At the ElderSpirit community that opened in Abingdon, Va., in early 2006, residents say their years of planning have paid off.
Thirty-eight people from 10 states have moved in and begun to live like members of an extended family.
Homes sold for $90,000 to $114,000. Monthly dues run $150.
When someone becomes sick, a committee of residents coordinates the care that neighbors will give. It might be driving someone to
a doctor's appointment, bringing over hot meals or just stopping by to visit.
Patricia Gaskin, 69, sold her house in northern Michigan to live in ElderSpirit. Still grieving from her husband's death three
months earlier, she found her new neighbors especially understanding and supportive.
Ms. Gaskin now fills her days with gardening, poetry readings, film history classes and potluck dinners.
"I don't feel so alone anymore," she said. "I'm part of something much larger than myself. I can't tell you what a sense of
security that gives me."
COMMUNITY FEATURES
Though each cohousing group designs its own community, there are common characteristics.
• Each private home is a complete house in and of itself, but it's usually about half the size of a traditional home.
• The common house becomes an extension of each home, with guest rooms, laundry facilities and workshops that residents can use
when needed.
• The private homes are often built around a courtyard, or they're clustered to create broad, open spaces.
• Cars are parked on the outskirts of the property to encourage residents to use the walkways and mingle.
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RESOURCES
Organizations involved in senior cohousing include:
Cohousing Association of the United States: www.cohousing.org
Elder Cohousing Network: www.eldercohousing.org or 303-413-8066
ElderSpirit Community, Abingdon, Va.: http://www.elderspirit.net/ or 276-628-8908
Silver Sage Village, Boulder, Colo.: http://silversagevillage.com/ or 303-449-3232
Chuck Durrett, architect and author of Senior Cohousing: A Community Approach to Independent Living: www.mccamant-durrett.com or 530-265-9980
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