Discuss truly affordable cohousing

Truly affordable cohousing and accessibility are the current hot topics on the Cohousing mailing list. Although there is a concerted effort at many projects to have some units available to people with low incomes, posters (including myself) have suggested that many new building techniques can open the cohousing threshold to low-income and poverty-level people.

Most projects have an entry-level expense of about $200,000 to $300,000 and up. A typical three-bedroom home in cohousing can be the same price as comparable homes in that geographical market. Project home prices often are slightly higher than comparable homes when the shared expense of developing the community (Common House) and/or 'green' construction features are included.

Affordable housing examples that could cost anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000 include smaller houses (less than 1,000 square feet), prefabricated or modular homes, converted shipping crates, Katrina Cottages, or homes built entirely of recycled materials. Many of these types of dwellings are discussed on the Small Home Society mailing list and on a growing variety of web sites focused on sustainable and ecological building construction.

I'm looking forward to further discussions and will include new information here as the topic unfolds. Please contribute your observations or opinions about truly affordable cohousing in 'comments' to this post.

Review cohousing list discussions

An attempt to summarize various topics discussed at length on the Cohousing-L mailing list is underway on The Cohousing Wiki. One recent topic was modular construction.

The cohousing wiki was created in March 2007 by several list members including Fred Olson of Minnesota and John Faust of Arizona. Since it is done in 'wiki' style, the project will continue to add information and be available for people to edit or update articles.

Since the cohousing mailing list averages from 2 to 50 posts a day, it can be overwhelming, especially if you miss reading it for a few days. Fred also provides archives for the mailing list that are searchable, but you need to be subscribed to the list for access. The wiki makes many current cohousing topics available at the reader's convenience.

"The discussion can be transformed into something more meaningfully organized," said John, " with the possibility that it becomes cohousing knowledge and an evolving resource for others."

Cohousing Conference coming up

The National Cohousing Association of the United States will host presenters, exhibits, cohousers, and potential cohousers on Thursday, June 12 through Sunday June 15 near Boston, MA. It will be held at Bentley College in Waltham, Ma. For conference details, go here.

There will be presentations about everything from the basics of cohousing and designing and building communities, to living in community and sustaining the cohousing movement throughout the country. For those who want to participate, there will be a bus tour of communities in Western Massachusetts and other workshops. The conference has been held six times in the past 10 years. Primary locations have been on the East Coast, with one conference each held in Seattle, Berkeley, and Boulder.

Tiny House to Call Your Own

Oikos books has an excerpt from “A Tiny House to Call Your Own - Living Well in Just the Right House” on it’s website here. By Sarah Susanka, the book stands out as a major contribution to the small house movement. If you ever wondered about all the advantages of building small, this is the excerpt to read.

Make ‘Modern Prefab’ Malleable to Masses

“... people may be finally recognizing that there might not be such a great future in 10,000-square-foot McMansions.”

-- Allison Arieff, founder, former editor,
Dwell magazine, author of “Prefab”

Gee, shucks, mame .... Ya think? Maybe? This isn’t the formerly “mundane, ugly architecture” of prefabricated homes. Check out this article (and photo gallery) in the L.A. Times that celebrates the revival of ‘modern’ prefabs, even during the slumping housing market.

Arieff leads prefab designers Michelle Kaufmann, Jennifer Siegal and Rocio Romero in a panel discussion titled “The Four Women of Prefab” during the annual CA Boom show in Santa Monica, California, per the southern California publication.

Modern, made-to-order prefab could help make an architectural variety of homes available to people who can’t afford what’s currently on the market, Arieff said.

A few more important points in this interview:

• Made-to-order, modern prefabs rely on natural light and ventilation ... expanses of glass, exposed beams and studs
• Prefabs are made with ‘smarter’, more sustainable building materials ... smaller footprint
• Quicker construction time, more efficient use of materials, less waste, money saved
• Make sure there aren’t stipulations against prefab and manufactured homes on your lot

Portland project combines green, small living

In Portland, Oregon, people work together to get stuff done - or so it says in this article published in the March 2008 issue of Sunset magazine. The article focuses on three couples with 'green' lifestyles. One of the couples is Laura Ford and Josh Devine who are part of a 4-unit infill community called Sabin Green. It consists of four homes on a 75- by 100-foot lot that used to have only a single two-bedroom bungalow and garage. Developed with affordability in mind, Josh and Laura's house cost $143,000 and is 530 square feet. The cohousing project meets two big goals - having a small footprint AND providing a house they could afford.

Multimedia: 21st Century Village

I just came across a link to several nicely produced clips and shorts about the cohousing experience. The multi-media presentation is from YourHealthConnection.com.