Cohousing Part II Cohousing movement i…

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EXTENSION
Cohousing Part II: Cohousing
movement in the United States

Denmark’s “living communities” started

the cohousing movement in the United
States.
Posted on April 5, 2017 by Crystal
Wilson, Michigan State University
Extension

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The Danish term bofællesskab, or living
community, was introduced in the U.S.
as cohousing by two Americans, Katie
McCamant and Chuck Durrett, who
studied architecture in
Denmark. McCamant and Durrett
adapted a participatory process from
Denmark that builds the community not
brick-by-brick but decision-by-decision.

The Cohousing Association of the United

States defines cohousing as an
innovative and sustainable way of living.
They are intentional, collaborative
neighborhoods that bring together the
value of private homes for the benefits of
more sustainable living. Cohousing is
different from communes, coops or cults.
It should be seen more as a “community-
plus-privacy-at-a-neighborhood scale”.

McCamant and Durrett have designed

many unique cohousing communities in
the United States. They took into
consideration the environment,
ecosystem, sustainable design, energy
efficiencies, historic preservation,
adaptive reuse, and urban infill
cohousing communities. Many of their
communities have a combination of
single-family housing and missing middle
housing. Some are mixed-use
development projects with residents
above the storefronts that front onto the
town’s main street. A few McCamant and
Durrett cohousing communities are
described below (CoHousing Solutions:
Sustainable neighborhood
consultants ).

The cohousing developments in

Emeryville and Oakland, California
reused existing buildings. Swan Market is
a mixed-used, historical cohousing
project, and FrogSong is also a mixed-
use cohousing project in Cotati,
California.

In Emeryville, California , the

second cohousing project built in
the U.S. was completed in 1992.
This 12-unit community was built
on just 0.3 acres and reuses an
existing brick industrial building with
a new second story. Three
townhouses are included in a new
building.
McCamant and Durrett started the
Swan’s Market Cohousing in
Oakland, California, which was
completed in 2000. This
construction faced unique
challenges and opportunities, as it
grew out of the 1917 Swan’s
Market building in the historic Old
Oakland neighborhood. Swan’s
Market Cohousing is part of an
award-winning, innovative, mixed-
used historic-preservation project,
listed on the National Register of
Historic Places. The development
includes affordable rental
apartments, retail, restaurants,
offices and a courtyard alongside
the community.
Cotati, California, is home to the
FrogSong Cohousing
Community , a mixed-use
 development including 7500 square
feet of commercial storefronts and
30 cohousing condominiums. The
community retained ownership of
the commercial spaces. Storefronts
with residences reside above face
the town’s main street. Clustering
provides ample open space on the
2.3 acre site. Beginning with the
dream of four households in 1999,
FrogSong was completed in 2003.

Ecological and sustainable design

cohousing communities were built in
Bellingham, Washington; Nevada City,
Nevada; and Pleasant Hill, California.

The Bellingham Cohousing

Community was completed in
2000 and accommodates the
wetlands and fields by building on
half of the site.
In Nevada City, a village-like
cohousing community is located
on 11 acres. It is within walking
distance of a historic “Gold
 Country” main street was
completed in 2006. The
development also includes single-
family lots with front porches facing
the street. Clustering the Victorian-
style buildings kept 60 percent of
the wooded site undeveloped. The
site layout minimizes grading and
tree removal, while optimizing solar
orientation and handicap
accessibility.
Pleasant Hill Cohousing
Community has extensive solar
heating and cooling features,
making the buildings comfortable
without air conditioning. It was
completed in 2001.

Temescal Commons in Oakland,

California, is an urban infill housing
project.

Temescal Commons was

completed in 2000 and is a nine-
unit community. It is the result of
combining urban lots to develop an
 infill community. One lot contains
an old residence divided into two
flats, four new homes and a
common house. The community
incorporates many sustainable
building techniques.

Those in MSU Extension that focus on

land use provide various training
programs on planning and zoning, which
are available to be presented in your
county. Contact your local land use
educator (pdf) for more information.

This article was published by Michigan

State University Extension. For more
information, visit
http://www.msue.msu.edu. To have a
digest of information delivered straight to
your email inbox, visit
http://www.msue.msu.edu/newsletters.
To contact an expert in your area, visit
http://expert.msue.msu.edu, or call 888-
MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

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Last Updated 04/05/2017