In the News :
"The New American Neighborhood:" Creative New Forms of Communal Housing

An article in the August 10 edition of Parade Magazine focused on the growth of cohousing communities in the U.S.--165 built, 140 more planned--as well as the rise of creative new forms of communal living designed to meet the needs of specific populations. Bastion, for example, is a New Orleans community for veterans suffering from PTSD and their families. In addition to housing, residents have access to on-site art therapy, counseling, meditation, legal aid and financial literacy classes. The residents “all pitch in and support each other,” veteran Malik Scott observes. “It’s a little village here.” Ollie, a co-living boarding house in Pittsburg, offers young singles priced out of big city housing affordable studio apartments with extensive shared amenities, including an onsite gym and organized social activities, from yoga to weekend ski trips. With ten locations and 60 more planned, Ollie Founder Chris Bledsoe is convinced, "This is the future of housing.''

Other creative adaptations of the cohousing model include an urban condominium community with a rooftop farm in Seattle and a 55 + "pocket neighborhood" of modular homes tucked into an established neighborhood in Asheville, North Carolina. Senior communities, in fact, are the fastest growing segment of cohousing.

As Sky Blue, of The Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC), observes, “Whether the initial draw is company, saving money, greener living or physical and emotional support, communal living seems here to stay. ‘Words like economical and ecological share the root eco —which is Greek for ‘home,'” Blue says. “It’s about getting your basic needs met and doing it together.”

The full article can be found here.