Co Housing

When I work with senior housing property mangers in the Twin Cities area, they all have one thing in common, the average age of the residents is 85 and older! We are living longer and we are waiting longer to move (sometimes, too long).  So, where then, are the 55-70 year olds going to want to live when it's time for them to downsize out of their current homes? Why would they want to be segregated from younger communities?   Isn't there anything in between? 

The answer is Co housing. Have you heard of it?  There is one co-housing community in the Twin Cities. In an article featured in Good Age Newspaper, you can read about Monterey in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. I've had the chance to visit with the residents there.  It is a intergenerational community where everyone who lives there, participates in the community.  It's quite something.

There are two other efforts currently underway in Minnesota; Homeward CoHousing and Community in the Cities.

Again, looking through my crystal ball, I suspect our baby boomers are going to create housing options that don't yet exist today. These are some of my hopes for these new options:

1. Our elders are not segregated away from younger members of the community.
2.  The possibility of remaining in your home doesn't mean isolation because your neighbors and children have moved away.
3. A community that embraces intergenerational housing where the younger community members watch out for those that are aging. 

It seems I'm hoping to return to the times before TV when we had front porches and knew our neighbors.

Comments

[Rhea]

I'm a big fan of co-housing and I happen to live in a section of Boston, where there is a very vibrant cohousing community. I am 48 and have thought of moving in. Don't know yet, but it's a great option.

[teresa boardman]

Thanks Lisa, I never hear of cohousing now I'll have to read up on it.

[raines]

Lisa, thanks for calling attention to cohousing (we usually write it as one word, no dash or capitals, it's in the American Heritage Dictionary!) As a longtime cohousing resident out here in Berkeley, CA (and previously in nearby Oakland), I can't imagine any other way to live... I know my neighbors, we help out each other, yet we still have our privacy. Teresa, click on the word cohousing above if you want to read more about it at the Cohousing Association of the U.S. website.

Although "senior cohousing" is the latest development in our area, to accomodate those interested in age-segregated communities, and I've even gotten certified in that area, I'm a big fan (as you are) of intergenerational communities... I'm learning lots from my 75- and 76-year-old neighbors, as well as from my 2-month-old neighbor. Plus, as my friend Jim Leach likes to say, community is the secret ingredient in sustainability.

Rhea, I don't know if there are any openings at Jamaica Plain cohousing (I followed them and visited while they were under construction because I grew up in Newton and have family there), but it is a lovely community.

Raines
Cohousing Coach

[lisa dunn]

Raines, I would love to learn more about the certification you've obtained. Primarily so I can continue to learn more about Cohousing (no spaces or dashes). I think (and hope) it's time will come in Minnesota!