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Cohousing

Cohousing is a living arrangement in which multiple houses (usually twenty to thirty-five) are oriented around a common open area and a common building. Cohousing communities are custom-designed neighborhoods whose residents have decided that they do not want typical suburban, urban, or even rural neighborhoods in which neighbors don't know each other. The residents of cohousing communities work actively to create a viable and friendly neighborhood where neighbors are accustomed to cooperating and socializing.

Cohousing offers a new approach to housing rather than a new way of life. Aside from a basic adherence to democratic principles, cohousing developments espouse no ideology beyond a desire for a more practical and social home environment. A cohousing living arrangement is not a commune, nor is it an intentional community.

In addition to social advantages, cohousing offers numerous environmental benefits. Studies show that residents of cohousing communities in the United States drive about 25 percent less than other U.S. residents and that they use only about 25 percent of the energy they used in their previous living arrangements. Cohousing residences in the United States are about 60 percent of the size of average new U.S. homes, and cohousing communities occupy on average less than half as much land as the average new subdivision for the same number of households. Cohousing has taken hold in Denmark as well as the United States, and to a lesser degree in other European countries.

The History of Cohousing

In 1964, Jan Gudmand-Høyer returned to Denmark from graduate school in the United States. While at Harvard, he studied U.S. “utopias” such as Shakertown, Drop City, Twin Oaks, and many more, and singlefamily homes. From this he developed an in-between structure, which he described in an article titled “The Missing Link Between Utopia and the Dated OneFamily House.” This was the start of cohousing. More than one hundred Danish families voiced an interest in the type of community Gudmand-Høyer described in the article. By 1976, there were three cohousing communities, and by 1982, twenty-two cohousing developments in Denmark were following Gudman-Høyer's ideas.

In 1984 and 1985, architects Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett went to Denmark to study these communities. The result of their research was Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves, a book that introduced cohousing to the United States. First published in 1988, it sold almost 3,000 copies in the first month. The second edition was published in 1994 with reprints in 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002. It remains the most comprehensive book in the United States and Denmark on cohousing. Currently, 75 cohousing projects exist in the United States, with another 20 under construction and about 150 in the planning phase.

The Six Components of Cohousing

Cohousing takes diverse forms. Some are urban factory loft conversions, others are part of suburban neighborhoods, and a few are rural. Whatever the form, all cohousing developments share the following six components: participatory planning, designs that facilitate both community and privacy, extensive common facilities, management by residents, nonhierarchical organization, and separate sources of income.

Participatory Planning

The future residents are key participants in the planning and organization of a cohousing development. By struggling with the myriad decisions involved in building a neighborhood, they build a community even before moving in. They help design the site plan, the common house, and the private homes. They also participate in many of the organizational stages of development, including marketing, financing, and obtaining the required government approvals.

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