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Senior cohousing an ‘antidote to the loneliness’ that hits people as they age
January 5, 2019 /
Cohousing is a community where people own their individual homes plus a share of common areas such as outdoor space and a clubhouse with kitchen, living and dining rooms. They typically prepare and share meals several times a week and become more than just neighbors.
“I suspect that as we have more housing shortages in highly developed urban areas, this concept will get more cachet. It’s an interesting housing model at a time when our country is so divided. These projects force people to relate.”
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This concept, especially multi-generational co-housing, is a development that would benefit many communities. Is there one in your Montana community?
My wife and I lived in a cohousing community in Seattle for about 9 years, then we moved to Missoula. Our community (Jackson Place Cohousing) had all ages, which I think may be an advantage over simply senior cohousing. One family had three generations living there – a mom & dad, their offspring, and a grandparent. Over the years some of our neighbors had kids, and those kids became “our kids” to everyone who lived there. We also had older folks who lived there. Having ages ranging from zero to 80+ made for a more vibrant community than if it were all one more restricted age range. And younger people tend to have more energy for getting things done. Everyone has to have energy for discussing what gets done.
With community meals (four evenings a week, and one on weekends), gardening, running the place, building a workshop, and many other group activities we became a big family. We all knew our neighbors kids and pets, and personal quirks, and we enjoyed each others company, often having our neighbors round for coffee or drinks. And the meetings, more than you can imagine, brought us together too. When you sit with a group of people and say what matters to you, and hear what matters to them, it brings you all closer together.
In terms of aging in place, one thing that might be a benefit would be if the association (i.e. everyone who lives there) could manage to own one of the units and rent it to a health professional who could then provide in-home care to elders in the community.
We loved living in cohousing and are still in close touch with some of our old neighbors even though we’re her now and not there.
From another community member:
1. I agree with Pat that a range of ages makes for a more vibrant and safer community. A range of lifestyles also helps – gay, straight, single, corporate VP, barista, student, retired, etc. We found it was difficult to get racial diversity. In our neighborhood people of color had already formed community – only the white folk seemed adrift.
2. Defining your terms and conditions at the outset is critical. What are the commonalities? What does the term “community”mean? Can you opt out of chores by paying someone else to do them? To what level will the grounds be maintained (property values)? Many people who were short of cash were also short of money. The 4 things that should only be voted on are decoration – like paint color -, food, pet policies, and kid discipline. Consensus doesn’t work here.
3. Have it written in your bylaws whether the existing group can veto a new member or not. We ended up with a corporation owning one unit and the residents never participated at all. This gets complicated when someone wants to sell their unit. Fortunately, cohousing still has a cache and sells above traditional housing.
4.There are established cohousing principles regarding decision-making and process. There are many types of group living arrangements, not all cohousing, and the lines get kind of blurred. There are companies that will build the cohousing infrastructure while the group works on the community-building and trust but there needs to be a core of “burning souls” that are altruistic, enthusiastic, and have some resources to get things off the ground. Cohousing is a ground-up system and any developer will have to let go at some point.
All for now,
Anne L