Books
“Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves” by Kathryn McCamant & Charles Durrett
“The Cohousing Handbook: Building A Place For Community” by Chris Hanson
“The Different Drum” by M. Scott Peck
The first half of this book is most relevant to cohousing communities.
On the web
Universal Design: It’s not just about you.
What if every building and every home was designed to make it accessible to anyone and everyone who wanted to enter regardless of their age, size, or ability or disability? In the design world, it’s called “Universal Design”.
The Dangers of Loneliness
Friendship is a lot like food. We need it to survive. Psychologists find that human beings have a fundamental need for inclusion in group life and for close relationships. Co-housing is a way to reduce loneliness & create shared community.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/200307/the-dangers-loneliness?utm_source=March+2018&utm_campaign=March+2018&utm_medium=email
Newsclip about desperate search for accessible housing (Judy Kerr)-
Apologies for any ads that might appear first :
Slide presentation by accessibility designer Thea Kurdi:
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2016/di/bgrd/backgroundfile-94715.pdf
How cohousing can make us happier (and live longer):
Lene Anderson is an advocate for universal design
See her blog at:
http://theseatedview.blogspot.ca/2017/10/living-in-place-fighting-to-increase.html
Vancouver Cohousing
At Vancouver Cohousing, each unit has its own small yard or balcony. Shared amenities include a spacious kitchen and dining room in the common building, a yoga studio, shared office space, children’s play area, laundry room, craft room, teen room, workshop, bike room, storage room, central courtyard, rooftop deck, a deck which will serve as community garden space in the future, and two guest rooms for visitors. Residents hold monthly meetings in which decisions are made by consensus and the aim is to have four communal meals a week — residents don’t have to attend, but they must sign up for a cooking team every month or two to help with preparations.
http://www.vancourier.com/news/owners-of-vancouver-s-first-cohousing-complex-move-in-1.2195550
Canadian Cohousing Network (CCN)
The Canadian Cohousing Network (CCN) was formed in 1992 in British Columbia, Canada. It is a registered non-profit organization that promotes the creation of cohousing communities as a model for sustainable development by raising public awareness about cohousing and by bringing people together to form communities. The most valuable function of the CCN is making connections with people who are interested in living in a cohousing community. CCN links individuals and cohousing groups together to share resources and make the process of creating a community easier and more economical.
CBC Documentary on Seniors’ Cohousing
Have you heard the CBC radio documentary about seniors’ cohousing?
Five years ago they didn’t know each other. Now, they are a tribe – at Harbourside Cohousing in Sooke, BC – neighbours prepared to live together and help look after each other, with any luck, ’til the end of their days.
Building Community with Cohousing
In Building Community with Cohousing, filmmakers Dany Gagnon and Regan Payne interview cohousing residents from WindSong Cohousing Community (completed 1996), Cranberry Commons Cohousing (completed 2001) and Roberts Creek Cohousing (completed 2005).
Audrey King: Living and reaching full potential with a disability.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
‘Cohousing lite’ enters the Vancouver housing conversation
https://www.oururbanvillage.ca/
“Cohousing lite,” as its name suggests, is a streamlined version of cohousing, a style of living built on strong social relationships that’s emerged in Vancouver in recent years. In cohousing, residents own private units within a larger building, which features common areas such as a communal kitchen, various activity rooms and outdoor areas. Uses are determined according to the needs of the group. Shared meals are held several times a week, decisions are based on consensus and residents divvy up duties for the overall complex.
Our Urban Village Cohousing would relinquish control over design and plans for a building to a developer, albeit retaining some degree of input.
Busting Five Myths of Universal Design
http://www.rickhansen.com/
Myth #2: Disability happens to other people, so Universal Design doesn’t reflect my needs.
Myth #3: Accessibility is covered by building codes.
Myth #4: Universal Design is too expensive.
Myth #5: Universal Design is uncreative, ugly, and boring.
Please visit, like & post re need for accessible cohousing, and please invite your friends to check out these Facebook pages too.
Visit our Unitarian Commons Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100014353743035
Facebook page for “Living in Place” campaign:
https://www.facebook.com/livinginplaceON/
In the news
Unitarian Commons: Unitarian Commons has been working on a 20 unit, multi generational, Universal Design, co-housing community as part of a larger condo project in Toronto.
https://hamiltonagingtogether.
https://www.thestar.com/life/
https://www.thestar.com/