The Fine Intentions of Living in a Cohousing Community

We recently discussed on this blog the limited home options in our region as well as the inner workings of cooperatives, but there is an even rarer – and arguably more traditional – form of living in our backyard.

It’s called cohousing, a collection of homes – typically furnished apartment or condo units – in which residences with small kitchens are owned individually around shared facilities that serve as a magnet for residents to congregate. The facilities typically include a main function room – better known as the common house – as well as anything from gardens and courtyards, to spas and pools or rooftop areas.

American architects Kate McCamant and Charles Durrett traveled to Denmark – where cohousing got its start in the 1970s and tens of thousands now participate – to study this home-living arrangement before they designed a prototype in Davis, Calif., in the early 1990s. The concept has since spread across the Western states and well beyond.

Cohousing is an affordable option that flourishes through the intentional participation from its resident-owners. While most own their homes and pay it off with a mortgage, all residents follow this intentional way of life that includes looking after one another as well as holding social gatherings – dinners, brunches, games, birthday parties and TV-watching.

“Cohousing is sometimes called the longest personal-growth workshop ever,” says Karen Gimnig, Communications Director for Cohousing U.S. “Living in cohousing reliably challenges us to grow – whether we want to or not – and that is a good thing.”

The idea usually starts with a small group of like-minded people who identify an area in which to live, purchase land there and then obtain permissions from the local government to establish a community. This group then builds up about 20%-25% of the total sales value to obtain a construction loan (currently at about 6% interest) and build or renovate multi-family housing (or repurpose some other structure) with custom common areas. A majority of the original costs for land and construction are paid back through the purchase of homes and – in some cases – from rental income.

“Every private investor who invests in any cohousing community is a socially responsible investor,” McCamant, architect and development consultant with Cohousing Solutions, says candidly to a group of attendees on a virtual talk. “We are not offering the kinds of returns that any real estate investor would even consider.”

Most communities are legally considered condos, allowing everyone to own a share of the property. Some communities operate as a tax-exempt nonprofit, renting out units or allowing a combination of nonprofit rentals and ownership.

Some deeds with cohousing properties require that no home is sold higher than 80% of the market value. Costs can be partially absorbed through government subsidies or grants, especially when the cohousing is categorized as “affordable housing.”

An informal survey of 54 cohousing communities recently showed a quarter of them require a percentage of their homes to be designated “affordable.” Another 44% say they voluntarily offer low-cost housing.

The real goal of cohousing is to provide a balance between sustainability with affordability. Experts believe using these two objectives as the cohousing North Star goes a long way toward building and maintaining a successful, intentional community. Cohousing residents manage decisions as a group – one vote per homeowner – rather than relying on an outside property management company.

Today there are roughly 170 suburban, rural and urban examples of cohousing in the U.S. – averaging 22 units per community – and another 140 are in the development stage. Those who buy into the intentional lifestyle reflect a range of demographics, from single professionals and couples to young families and Baby Boomers. Many communities target people 55+ – who prefer cohousing to retirement communities – and at least one, in North Carolina, was recently established for LGBTQ seniors and their friends.

Staving off loneliness is one reason for joining a cohousing community as more people understand the far-reaching benefits of communitas, Latin for “the spirit of community.” A study from Brigham Young University showed a significant increased risk of premature death for those living in isolation, estimating some 43 million over age 45 suffer from chronic loneliness. Even the U.S. Surgeon General from the Obama Administration declared isolation to be a public health epidemic. 

“Life in the 21st century is difficult for a lot of reasons,” notes Gimnig of Cohousing U.S. “[Americans] are more isolated and sicker than we have probably ever been. There is a strong need for change to help empower individuals through collaboration.”

Like all of us, the pandemic has challenged the way we live, think and work. Cohousing advocates see the benefits of community living, saying it is particularly poised to protect and help each other much better than most communities. (Ask yourself when you checked on your neighbors – or even know their names.)

How can this social environment keep its main strength and support each other while still staying healthy and safe? Many have decided to close common areas during this pandemic. Others have enforced social distancing protocols while keeping some common space open for limited activities. In addition, many of the younger members have volunteered even more to either run errands for older residents or help them overcome new technology hurdles to keep in touch with others. 

In social isolation, virtual meetings have become the new “common house” where people can visit anytime with their neighbors. That includes having common meals virtually, too. It’s about not changing what people in cohousing do but changing how they do it.

What happens if somebody gets sick? Residents offer to help others who need to stay quarantined and some places have stopped providing the guest suite to outside visitors, instead using the private room for people who need to be isolated. Some have established special committees to oversee matters related to the health and welfare of their residents.

“If there is any housing configuration that’s suited for a quarantine situation, it’s cohousing,” says Alan O’Hashi, Board President, Cohousing U.S., speaking from his Colorado home. “By definition, everybody knows to look after each other, to collaborate, to check in on others and we’re run by community members.”

In 2014, about six years after joining a cohousing community with his partner, O’Hashi became seriously ill and was hospitalized. As he tells it: “When I came back to the community [after hospitalization], all of the sudden there were people calling to check in on me, they were stopping by and dropping off food. They offered transportation for me to and from the hospital. That was when I said ‘Okay, that’s what cohousing is all about!’ It’s about community and mutual care-giving.”

Conflict is, unfortunately, present in many cohousing environments, just as it can be around us all. Relationship experts say there are a number of ways to address conflict but the primary method to repair it is through structured communication.

“I’m not best friends with every single person in my community; we even have differences and conflicts,” says Grace Kim, an architect who also lives in cohousing, speaking on the subject at a TED Talk in 2017. “But living in cohousing, we’re intentional about our relationships. We’re motivated to resolve our differences.”

Interestingly, cohousing experts believe there are more introverts in these communities, as all people are welcome in an intentional lifestyle. In some cases, introverts withdraw even more – by not attending events or meetings and allowing extroverts to control dialog but not necessarily decisions (remember: one vote per residence). These differences can be addressed through a freedom to communicate without judgment.

“Skeptics will say that cohousing is only interesting or attractive to a very small group of people,” says Kim, who founded Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing, a community that includes her street-level office, central courtyard and rooftop P-patch. “If you look at Western cultures around the globe, those living in cohousing is just a fractional percent. That needs to change because our very lives depend upon it.”

Seattle has been a beehive of activity in cohousing development since the 1990s, offering about a dozen communities. They include the Apex, a former hotel with 21 units in Belltown, and Jackson Place, with 27 units in four buildings established in 2001 in the Central District.

Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing, which opened in 2016, is a hybrid model in which it charges owners $30,000 to be part of the Limited Liability Company. In addition, residents are charged both a monthly membership fee ($40) and market-rate rent. Each member is also expected to pull their weight and volunteer within the community. The place is currently full, with nine households and 28 total residents, including 11 children (2019 data).

Outside Seattle, another dozen or so communities are established in the Puget Sound region and at least eight more are in various levels of planning. There are 31 cohousing communities either built or forming across the state. Washington is second in the nation behind California (58) for most communities in the U.S., with Oregon and Colorado right behind.

The resale market of cohousing units is generally good in this part of the country, as long as the building is well maintained and finances are strong. The high number of communities with no availability for applicants signals their popularity.

“It’s not for everybody,” O’Hashi acknowledges. “You may want to buy an affordable home but then you have to also buy in to the ‘secret sauce.’”

And that’s intentional.

For more information, contact NICA, the Northwest Intentional Communities Association here in Washington, and the national organization Cohousing U.S.