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Coop Newsletter, April 2007
Cohousing 101, Pittsburghers Explore a Community Concept From Denmark
BY GARY CROUTH
People in Denmark developed housing during the late 1960s that they called “living communities.” Two American
architects, Katie McCamant and Chuck Durrett, were interested in developing a new kind of “living community”
that would eliminate isolation and bring residents together for cooperative living. They studied the Danish model,
brought it back to the U.S. in the 1980s and named it “cohousing.” Simply put in McCamant and Durrett’s terms,
cohousing is an intentional neighborhood designed, owned and operated cooperatively by the people who live
there, where people know each other, help each other, share their lives and certain resources. It’s a place where
your neighbors are also your friends.
Although cohousing neighborhoods vary greatly they share several characteristics all of which create and sustain
community and cooperative living. Parking for residents’ cars is usually designed to be on the periphery leaving
most of the common areas pedestrian-friendly, safer for children and more conducive to human interactions. The
“common house” is a centrally located house shared by the neighborhood often equipped with features such as
guest rooms, laundry, meditation/yoga room, workshop, kids’ play area. Because these are shared, there’s no
need for them in the private homes. Though each private home has its own kitchen and dining space, the
common house’s kitchen and dining area are used for shared neighborhood meals which may be held as often as
daily in some communities to a few times a month in others.
The founding residents, in conjunction with an architect and other professionals, design the neighborhood using
collaborative design workshops and consensus decision-making, which creates bonds, commitment and
community among people even before they become neighbors. Design features include “clustered” housing with
optimally 25 to 30 units. Clustering the houses, rather than divvying up land per unit as in many conventional
developments, conserves land and brings people together more easily. The people designing the neighborhood
and the physical features of the site determine the proximity and configuration of the houses, which can be
attached, detached or a combination. Experience has shown that sharing common property expenses among
fewer than 25 households is often too much of a burden. On the other side, a neighborhood with more than 30
households can be too big and unwieldy to manage effectively.
Each household owns their own unit and a portion of the common property and pays a periodic fee to cover the
expenses of the common areas. People are expected to contribute time and energy towards maintaining the
neighborhood by participating in neighborhood meetings and work. Almost all cohousing communities use formal
consensus for problem solving, decision-making, and conflict resolution. Formal consensus strives to be
inclusive, peaceful, and tap into the creativity of individuals to produce decisions that are in the best interest of
the group.
Cohousing offers a great way for people to live in a more ecologically sustainable way. Clustering the houses
uses less land. Sharing space in the common house makes smaller houses possible which use less building
materials and less energy for heating and cooling. Additionally, cohousing neighborhoods often decide to
incorporate “green building” features into the neighborhood and engage in ecologically responsible activities such
as sharing bulk food purchases of locally grown food, operating compost bins or worm farms, and car sharing.
According to the latest statistics on www.community.com , in the U.S. thereFamiliarizationestablished cohousing
neighborhoods in thirty-eight states. About 100 cohousing neighborhoods are currently forming, including one in
Pittsburgh.
The Pittsburgh Cohousing Group is a diverse collection of Pittsburghers working towards a cooperative,
ecologically mindful cohousing neighborhood in the Pittsburgh area.
The Group is now in “Pre-development” Phase and about to begin a formal site search. The Group is holding
public Orientation Meetings at various locations to inform people about cohousing, explain what the Group is
doing in Pittsburgh, and invite folks to join. The Group is researching available sites in and around the Pittsburgh
area, has established a relationship with a local developer who has a special interest in cohousing and has
identified an attorney to work through the legal issues.
Please come to one of our orientation meetings to find out more about this exciting way to live more cooperatively
with each other and the planet.
End
Cohousing 101, Pittsburghers Explore a Community Concept From Denmark
BY GARY CROUTH
People in Denmark developed housing during the late 1960s that they called “living communities.” Two American
architects, Katie McCamant and Chuck Durrett, were interested in developing a new kind of “living community”
that would eliminate isolation and bring residents together for cooperative living. They studied the Danish model,
brought it back to the U.S. in the 1980s and named it “cohousing.” Simply put in McCamant and Durrett’s terms,
cohousing is an intentional neighborhood designed, owned and operated cooperatively by the people who live
there, where people know each other, help each other, share their lives and certain resources. It’s a place where
your neighbors are also your friends.
Although cohousing neighborhoods vary greatly they share several characteristics all of which create and sustain
community and cooperative living. Parking for residents’ cars is usually designed to be on the periphery leaving
most of the common areas pedestrian-friendly, safer for children and more conducive to human interactions. The
“common house” is a centrally located house shared by the neighborhood often equipped with features such as
guest rooms, laundry, meditation/yoga room, workshop, kids’ play area. Because these are shared, there’s no
need for them in the private homes. Though each private home has its own kitchen and dining space, the
common house’s kitchen and dining area are used for shared neighborhood meals which may be held as often as
daily in some communities to a few times a month in others.
The founding residents, in conjunction with an architect and other professionals, design the neighborhood using
collaborative design workshops and consensus decision-making, which creates bonds, commitment and
community among people even before they become neighbors. Design features include “clustered” housing with
optimally 25 to 30 units. Clustering the houses, rather than divvying up land per unit as in many conventional
developments, conserves land and brings people together more easily. The people designing the neighborhood
and the physical features of the site determine the proximity and configuration of the houses, which can be
attached, detached or a combination. Experience has shown that sharing common property expenses among
fewer than 25 households is often too much of a burden. On the other side, a neighborhood with more than 30
households can be too big and unwieldy to manage effectively.
Each household owns their own unit and a portion of the common property and pays a periodic fee to cover the
expenses of the common areas. People are expected to contribute time and energy towards maintaining the
neighborhood by participating in neighborhood meetings and work. Almost all cohousing communities use formal
consensus for problem solving, decision-making, and conflict resolution. Formal consensus strives to be
inclusive, peaceful, and tap into the creativity of individuals to produce decisions that are in the best interest of
the group.
Cohousing offers a great way for people to live in a more ecologically sustainable way. Clustering the houses
uses less land. Sharing space in the common house makes smaller houses possible which use less building
materials and less energy for heating and cooling. Additionally, cohousing neighborhoods often decide to
incorporate “green building” features into the neighborhood and engage in ecologically responsible activities such
as sharing bulk food purchases of locally grown food, operating compost bins or worm farms, and car sharing.
According to the latest statistics on www.community.com , in the U.S. thereFamiliarizationestablished cohousing
neighborhoods in thirty-eight states. About 100 cohousing neighborhoods are currently forming, including one in
Pittsburgh.
The Pittsburgh Cohousing Group is a diverse collection of Pittsburghers working towards a cooperative,
ecologically mindful cohousing neighborhood in the Pittsburgh area.
The Group is now in “Pre-development” Phase and about to begin a formal site search. The Group is holding
public Orientation Meetings at various locations to inform people about cohousing, explain what the Group is
doing in Pittsburgh, and invite folks to join. The Group is researching available sites in and around the Pittsburgh
area, has established a relationship with a local developer who has a special interest in cohousing and has
identified an attorney to work through the legal issues.
Please come to one of our orientation meetings to find out more about this exciting way to live more cooperatively
with each other and the planet.
End
Pittsburgh City Paper November 9, 2006
A conversation with Warwick Powell and Wendy Hardman
BY VIOLET LAW
Regent Square resident Warwick Powell and his wife,
Wendy Hardman, belong to a tight-knit group of families who
aspire to cohousing, a collective living arrangement popularized
in Scandinavia. The small group is recruiting a few more families
to share a property and hold informational meetings from time to
time.
What appeals to you most about cohousing?
The community aspect of it. By that we mean having a supportive group of neighbors who help each other out
on a regular basis or in a crisis. It is nice to have a community that includes all ages, from the very young to the
young 90-year-olds. In addition, it is appealing to share some resources. For example, some people may want
to save money by sharing a washing machine, a lawn mower or a car.
What will your Cohouse be like?
Our vision for cohousing includes a multi generational, child-friendly environment within easy access to
downtown Pittsburgh. We value energy- and resource-efficient design, good architecture and natural beauty.
We have no common political or religious orientation, only a common desire to live in a community that is a
neighborhood in the best sense of the word.
You now live in Regent Square. Can you possibly do cohousing there?
We could do cohousing anywhere -- urban, rural, warehouse, green field or brown field sites, or combinations
of existing buildings and adjacent clear space. We will design according to the site and the desires of the
group. It all depends on where we find an acceptable site, including Regent Square, although that is unlikely
because of the challenge of finding enough land.
How would cohousing change how you live?
We would know our neighbors better than we do now. We would probably have meals with them every week --
and perhaps share other common events, [such as] celebrations. We might watch each other's children when
needed, share rides to the store or work, and maintain our grounds jointly. We would still have the privacy of
our own home, but the pleasure of a closer community. We would hope to continue to have easy access to
shops, restaurants, entertainment and parks, as we currently do.
How did you realize cohousing is for you?
We have been interested in cohousing for years, intrigued by the notion of living in community. When a friend
sent us an e-mail about the Pittsburgh group, we decided to check them out and have been involved ever
since.
How do other people react to the idea of cohousing?
Most people don't know what it is and are curious about it. When we describe it they react favorably.
You said a few families are interested. What got them curious?
Some of them had heard about or experienced cohousing through friends, their travels or simply through their
reading and were -- and are -- fascinated.
What is your game plan?
We are growing our committed household base to 10 to 12 and are very close to that number now. Once that
number is reached, we will review potential sites, employ a developer and aim to have some of the community
moving into finished units soon after.
End
A conversation with Warwick Powell and Wendy Hardman
BY VIOLET LAW
Regent Square resident Warwick Powell and his wife,
Wendy Hardman, belong to a tight-knit group of families who
aspire to cohousing, a collective living arrangement popularized
in Scandinavia. The small group is recruiting a few more families
to share a property and hold informational meetings from time to
time.
What appeals to you most about cohousing?
The community aspect of it. By that we mean having a supportive group of neighbors who help each other out
on a regular basis or in a crisis. It is nice to have a community that includes all ages, from the very young to the
young 90-year-olds. In addition, it is appealing to share some resources. For example, some people may want
to save money by sharing a washing machine, a lawn mower or a car.
What will your Cohouse be like?
Our vision for cohousing includes a multi generational, child-friendly environment within easy access to
downtown Pittsburgh. We value energy- and resource-efficient design, good architecture and natural beauty.
We have no common political or religious orientation, only a common desire to live in a community that is a
neighborhood in the best sense of the word.
You now live in Regent Square. Can you possibly do cohousing there?
We could do cohousing anywhere -- urban, rural, warehouse, green field or brown field sites, or combinations
of existing buildings and adjacent clear space. We will design according to the site and the desires of the
group. It all depends on where we find an acceptable site, including Regent Square, although that is unlikely
because of the challenge of finding enough land.
How would cohousing change how you live?
We would know our neighbors better than we do now. We would probably have meals with them every week --
and perhaps share other common events, [such as] celebrations. We might watch each other's children when
needed, share rides to the store or work, and maintain our grounds jointly. We would still have the privacy of
our own home, but the pleasure of a closer community. We would hope to continue to have easy access to
shops, restaurants, entertainment and parks, as we currently do.
How did you realize cohousing is for you?
We have been interested in cohousing for years, intrigued by the notion of living in community. When a friend
sent us an e-mail about the Pittsburgh group, we decided to check them out and have been involved ever
since.
How do other people react to the idea of cohousing?
Most people don't know what it is and are curious about it. When we describe it they react favorably.
You said a few families are interested. What got them curious?
Some of them had heard about or experienced cohousing through friends, their travels or simply through their
reading and were -- and are -- fascinated.
What is your game plan?
We are growing our committed household base to 10 to 12 and are very close to that number now. Once that
number is reached, we will review potential sites, employ a developer and aim to have some of the community
moving into finished units soon after.
End
