Association News
The conference was a “resounding success” with its exceptional number of workshops, bus tours, auction and much, much more.
by Donna Freiermuth
July, 2008
The 2008 Cohousing Conference “was a resounding success,” says Craig Ragland,
Coho/US executive director. One participant said, “Anyone who has an interest in upgrading the way their life works should attend the conference. An overview and five pages of photos from the conference.
June, 2008
“If we agree that in cohousing a well-functioning common-meal system is fundamental to a strong sense of community, how can we help new communities create an effective common-meal system as they plan their life together in their future home? How can an established community modify its common-meal system, should it start to unravel?”
June, 2008
Five areas of focus. An amazing 55 presentations – more than ever before. Meals included. Fabulous dormitory accommodations with games, a kitchen and gathering areas downstairs. Author and Design-Build Architect John Abrams. Swing music at dinner with dancing afterward. A video introduction to cohousing. New friends and old friends. The best community gathering the nation has ever seen.
Haven’t registered for the conference yet? Seriously? Don’t miss it, discounted registration is almost over! For four days in Boston’s Waltham community at picturesque Bentley College, folks representing cohousing communities from across the country, as well as those just getting to know cohousing for the first time, will gather to feed or reignite their passion with informative presentations, workshops, community tours and social events.
Creating Cohousing
Diana Leafe Christian describes a new type of cohousing. Not multigenerational as such. Not pure senior coho either.
Read more >
June, 2008
McCamant & Durrett received the received the Silver Award for Best of Senior Living by the National Association of Home Builders at its annual 50+ Housing Symposium and awards dinner on May 20 in New Orleans. The award was for Silver Sage Village, a senior cohousing project in Boulder, Colorado, NAHB is the nation’s largest association of builders, with 235,000 members. Competing against hundreds of firms across America, McCamant & Durrett’s design was rated by the NAHB as one of the country’s best senior housing. Firm principal Charles Durrett was on hand to receive the award, “We are excited to see our ideas become working realities in communities shaped by residents, like Silver Sage.”
The firm also won a Golden Nugget award for the Best Affordable Project of 30 Acres or More for their Sacramento Senior Homes.
by Diana Leafe Christian
June, 2008
“I feel a little intimidated to say this,” the attractive older woman began hesitantly, “but living in senior cohousing next to Songaia was what drew me here in the first place. I don’t want to live in a community where children are the main focus. I do want this to be senior cohousing.”
May, 2008
We came up with a bakers dozen of reasons why you need to be at the June Cohousing Conference in Boston.
May, 2008
Michael Allan Black, one of America's foremost authorities on co-housing, died of a heart attack April 9 in Santa Rosa, CA, He was 70. Two of the best known projects he designed were Two Acre Wood in Sebastopol and Yulupa Co-Housing in Santa Rosa, where he had been living since 2005 with his wife, Alexandra Hart. "His strong belief was that community is one of the things that bonds people," she said.
Marty Maskall, the founder of Orangevale Cohousing, a forming group near Sacramento, says, "I feel honored that I got to know Michael Black. He was a gentle and calming presence." She met him while attending a workshop at Yulupa Cohousing in 2007, "At the time, I was feeling shell shocked because our project had just been rejected by the local Planning Council. Michael was very encouraging and he had several specific suggestions to help us. He made copies for me of letters of endorsement from mayors and other officials, and he taught me that getting letters like that could really help our project win approval." she remembers. "He was generous with his time, and a pleasure to talk with. I will miss Michael's gentle and encouraging spirit! He did much to advance the Cohousing movement."
Michael was looking forward to participating in the Coho/US conference in June and was scheduled to make a presentation on "The Role of Eclectic Spirituality in Deepening Our Connections." He intended to discuss an "eclectic spiritual perspective that enables us to embrace ourselves and our community life as sacred, in the same way that we can hold life itself as sacred — something to cherish, protect and serve. Viewing our community life through this 'spiritual lens' builds awareness, compassion, trust and openness."
He will be deeply missed.
May, 2008
Architect Grace Kim has joined the Coho/US Board. Grace Kim is an architect and co-founding principal of Schemata Workshop, a five-person architectural collaborative in Seattle.
May, 2008
The CD of Katie McCamant’s December webinar on financing cohousing has been produced and is ready to order.
The presentation is just over an hour and a half long. It is a movie of the full webinar with the complete Powerpoint presentation and the full audio recording of the talk given by Katie on December 3, 2007.
Living in Cohousing
Cohousing architect Brad Gunkel looks at where cohousing is today and what challenges lie ahead.
Read more >
|
Association News
We came up with a bakers dozen of reasons why you need to be at the June Cohousing Conference in Boston.
by Brad Gunkel, Architect, McCamant & Durrett Architects
May, 2008
It is the eve of the 2008 Cohousing Conference. It has been 20 years since the concept of cohousing was introduced to an increasingly transient and anonymous American population. It therefore seems like a natural time to step back and survey the movement’s current state, as well as its trajectory – to measure our successes and to recognize the work that lies ahead.
April, 2008
The National Cohousing Conference has traditionally drawn a large crowd of folks who are searching for answers, advice, connections and community. This year the conference will also address cohousing’s most valuable resource: those already living in community. The 2008 conference experience is geared toward helping those of you who’ve been living in community – whether for months or years or decades – to enrich your lives and the life of your group as well as to connect with each other.
Group Process
When your group or community encounters a difficult issue, new tactics might be needed.
Read more >
March, 2008
These tools of use to groups tackling issues come from Seeds for Change, a British nonprofit that seeks to equip those working for change with better skills.
March, 2008
The heavy rain, hail and snow held off until after the Wolf Creek Village Cohousing Ground Breaking held on Saturday, March 15th at 12 noon. Seventy-five future residents of Wolf Creek Commons, Wolf Creek Lodge, Mayor Mark Johnson, City Council members Chauncey Poston and Janet Arbuckle, City staff, CoHousing Partners, McCamant & Durrett Architects were all present to celebrate this environmentally conscious new neighborhood. Kathryn McCamant, President of CoHousing Partners, the developer of the project welcomed guests. McCamant, also an architect and author spoke about how special this cohousing project is for her, “I know that in creating a neighborhood where people will walk to shopping, bike to the farmers market and into downtown, that we are moving toward a more sustainable lifestyle where we will use less of the earth’s precious resources.”
March, 2008
Your board is delighted to welcome three new members: David Entin, Diane Margolis, and Terri Furman!
Living in cohousing
Diana Leafe Christian continues our
our tour of “collaborative housing” in Japan.
by Diana Leafe Christian
March, 2008
After the November 2007 Japanese Ecovillage Conference in Tokyo, I visited three “collective housing” projects in Tokyo with conference host Akemi Miyauchi. At that conference I first heard of what the Japanese call “collective housing” – high-density housing projects with various kinds of common space – but it sure sounded much like cohousing to me.
| | | | |
