A Quick Primer on Trends Towards CoHousing
When people hear the words “intentional community,” their minds go everywhere. Don’t get me started about the crazy, misguided perceptions that exist because lots of people have not been keeping up, and their minds revert to very old, outdated ideas.
The short version of current trends is that people such as myself are seeing the drastic and mushrooming need for housing and doing what they can to help, because city planners have fallen way behind the corporate trends to buy up housing– since 2019 especially.
Here is a quick, summary catch-up, and while you can find these trends named everywhere, I am quoting here from the American Planning Association’s August, 2023 issue. The American Planning Association is where city planners try to better configure for the future.
Since COVID:
- Co-living is more common, including among older demographics. This is in part becsuse homeowners are holding on to their properties, and aging, while younger and more diverse people are locked out of the market in part because of finances. You now find co-living, cohousing, and homesharing more common and more intergenerational. Look up those definitions for yourself.
- Trend #1 above means that US communities need to create new types of housing developments.
- Commercial-to-residential conversions are a huge trend now, as office space occupancy is down about half since COVID, downtowns have become ghost towns, but folks still need places to live and work from home.
- Private corporations have been buying up housing at astronomical rates, which has reduced available homes for the average person.
- Evictions have been rising and are predicted to rise, which will create more unhoused people who have nowhere to turn.
Also, studies show that having friends and sharing actual face-to-face contact with them boosts the immune system and improves all kinds of issues that tend to accompany aging.
At the selfish level, I love where I live and want to share this beauty with others.
6 responses to “Why Am I Doing This?”
Can I get more info regarding costs? Thank you.
Hi Liz, because I am not a developer trying to make tens of thousands of dollars on this idea, it’s more about attracting the right people rather than creating homes sites. To be clear, I am not building anything but I could create several homes sites. If, at the end of the year there is only one person I would be preparing a lot for, then it would be more expensive per lot than if there are four people who want to build and live here.
Hi Liz, I did add you to the Mountain Hearth email list so you can stay apprised. I send about 2 emails per month. In the last email, I explained that building here would not necessarily cost less than anywhere else, because we have a small scale (only a few homes), and at the same time, I am not doing this for the $ to ba made. You’ll see more info as you receive the emails. Thanks for our entrees
Well I truly enjoyed studying it. This information procured by you is very practical for proper planning.
Greetings Sheridan,
I am interested in co-housing and community land trust models rather than renting. Is this a possibility for your land/vision of community?
Thanks,
Catherine
Great question Catherine! Both are happening here now. I have three Airbnbs here that I am turning into housing for the Mountain Hearth community: a lovely apartment with a million dollar view that is the first floor of my home (a locked solid wood door between the floors), which is open to rent as of June 1, 2024; the extra bedroom in my home on the upper floor where I live (which is currently filled with a fabulous person who is part of the community); and a great converted bus/RV with its own hillside and million-dollar view which is rented as of June 1, 2024. The other cohousing option is in the future, which is that our first member is scoping out the land here, preparing to buy the best lot on the property and build a solar home here which will also have 12×12 bedrooms for members of the community.