Lately I’ve been dreaming about where I want to live in the near future, what sort of home environment I envision creating, including the physical structure and people around me.  I know that I don’t want to live alone in an apartment.  The kind of space I envision living in is one with other adults in a community where resources are shared and more importantly where ideas, dreams and hopes are welcomed for the purpose of evolving ourselves and our natural and built environments. This is what the kind of space I want to create and abide in looks like. 

A little over a month ago, as I was writing down some ideas for my future home, I remembered that cohousing is a type of intentional neighborhood and looked it up.  Happily surprised, I found that a new cohousing group in Brooklyn has been meeting regularly: Brooklyn Cohousing.

While I gravitate towards cohousing in a rural setting, this new endeavor will be happening within NYC, in a building with surrounding open space. They have a vision statement, a target neighborhood for building or converting an existing building, have hired a well-known architect/designer to assist them in negotiations with potential developers, AND they have a move-in date set to fall 2009!

Cohousing appeals to me for two main reasons:

1) Each household has their own private home which is a little smaller than an average American house.  This is great, because I want to live in a relatively clutter-free home, with a minimum of stuff. Appliances, tools, and equipment are bought by the community to outfit shared spaces. This model makes sense in terms of purchasing fewer goods and freeing up living space.

2) I want to live with open-minded adults of different backgrounds and ages and spend concerted effort living and working in a context that takes on projects and continuously improves the local and global community.

I was introduced to cohousing 6 years ago. While interning at an organic farm upstate, I had the opportunity of visiting Ecovillage at Ithaca. Ecovillage is a very large venture presently made up of 2 communities with a third in construction. The communities have been designed using all kinds of sustainable design technology. The home I visited was simple, clutter free, and comfortable on the cozy side.

In cohousing—a word coined by Chuck Durrett, meaning “living communities”—each family has its own home which is roughly 15% smaller than a traditional suburban home. The extra space is combined and used for rooms/buildings that the community members decide are appropriate for the functions and needs of its members.

A great introduction to cohousing is this audio presentation by Chris Scott Hanson explaining cohousing in all its diversity. He’s a great speaker relating through humorous anecdotes, the zest, humor, challenges and joys that happens in cohousing.

A few weeks ago, I attended an open orientation organized by Brooklyn Cohousing. Even though I personally want to live in a more rural setting, I was interested in checking them out and seeing how they ran their meetings. The orientation took place at City Explorers, a play space for kids, where a room in the back served conveniently as a meeting room. Cohousing members’ kids were taken care of during the meeting. The meeting lasted two hours and was very informative. 

I think Ken, the moderator, was surprised at the number of people who showed up, given it’s the summer and many go away on vacation. But folks continued to come in, 18 in all. Of this total, 5 were either members or associates, 2 were writers (me and another woman), and the remaining 11 were prospective members.

The meeting attracted people I would describe as sincere, outdoorsy and caring. They all seemed very serious about joining. Many mentioned that they had friends or family members that lived in cohousing communities elsewhere in the US and had witnessed the expansive process that their friends went through in building a cohousing community. Many seemed ripe for joining, and some had already been preliminarily involved with other cohousing groups that never panned out. There was one man there who shared that he’d been waiting 10 years to find a serious, committed cohousing group. 

Details regarding membership requirements, prospective building sites, apartment pricing, risk factors, and building design options were discussed. One newcomer voiced concern for what school district her child would be able to attend, wanting her child to be eligible for Park Slope’s P.S. 321. I love how one of the members responded to her by saying that, “we are committed to making all schools better, not just the ones that are already well equipped and thriving.”

At this point, there are no cohousing communities within the city limits, so this will be a first, and from what I could see it’s going to be a vibrant, committed community, giving a big impression to the city at large! There is an Intentional community in Staten Island, but cohousing is different, because residents own their own apartments outright, so if ever they want to sell, they can, as long as the incoming owner agrees to live within the cohousing framework.

Many have been waiting for cohousing to grow in NYC. I am interested in seeing how the group makes their decisions and plans come true. They are looking for more members to commit to the project. If you have considered cohousing before or are completely new to it but the idea sound appealing, I encourage you to check them out. You’ll learn much more than I’ve written here and meet a great group of people who have decided to take on building their future home together in a new way.

Do you or have you lived in a cohousing community?  Want to start one? We want to hear about it, so please share your comments below.

(image by 561design via flickr)