Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves - Hardcover

Kathryn McCamant

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0520067363 ISBN 13: 9780520067363

Publisher: Univ of California Pr, 1989

Synopsis

A movement that began in Europe has taken hold in North America because it provides some real answers for the increasing number of people who stop to look at where and how they live and at their impact on the environment. Cohousing is a way for a group of people to work together to develop places to live that offer both privacy and community with the values of an old-fashioned neighborhood-safety, independence, mutual concern. Many of these new ventures are up and running and many more are in the planning stages. Delivering more bang for the buck, this innovative approach to housing is challenging the formidable housing problems we face, and it is succeeding.

About this title

Review:

Alright, you tried living in a commune in the 1970s, and people kept borrowing your toothbrush and leaving dishes in the sink. Then you set up house by yourself and felt lonely. You got married, started raising a family and ended up feeling isolated from your friends and the rest of the community. You go to work, wave to your neighbors over the fence now and then, and think there must be more to life than this. There is: a whole new concept of building a neighborhood and sense of community. This is the story of how and why cohousing works, and how to go about making it happen for yourself.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

The dining room is located in the common house at the end of the hall. Here dinner is served four to six times a week, with 50 to 60 percent of the residents (25 to 35 people) typically taking part. The use of tokens, earned by cooking, assures that people prepare dinner in proportion to the number of times they eat. Each month residents sign up for when they will cook; and a few days beforehand, for when they will be there for dinner. This flexible system allows residents to participate as much or as little as they like.

About this edition

• Publisher: Univ of California Pr
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0520067363
• ISBN 13: 9780520067363
• Binding: Hardcover