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The Cohousing Handbook

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The Cohousing Handbook Advance Praise for The Cohousing Handbook Chris and Kelly review all aspects of organizing, designing, developing, financing and constructing the building of communities in a readable, easily accessible format the reader will undoubtedly refer to over and over again. A “must-read” for anyone ready to move beyond talk. — Kathryn McCamant, The Cohousing Company, co-author of Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves The Cohousing Handbook is an excellent start-to-finish overview, with a fine section on environmental stewardship. Cohousing is an important example of the global solutions we all must embrace in order to use land efficiently, and resources wisely, while creating healthy and vibrant communities for our future. — Bert Gregory AIA, President & CEO, Mithun Architects+Designers+Planners What can I say? This is simply just the best resource for cohousing design guidance available today. The beauty of it is the new and updated information built on real experience. We, in the profession, all have to offer thanks to Chris and Kelly for their contribution to cohousing’s popularity and quality of development in the United States. — Kirk Gastinger, FAIA, Gastinger Walker Harden Architects, co-founder of AIA Committee on the Environment A straightforward map through the myriad of challenges inherent in design and group processes. This handbook is an essential reference for anyone embarking on a cohousing project. — Shelley Penner, BID, Founding Member and Director, Eco Design Resource Society If you yearn to live in a cohousing community, before you organize your first meeting, write your first check, or visit your first site, bone up on this indispensable how-to guide. Its vital, practical information will empower your group, increase your confidence, and improve the chances that your dream community will actually get built‹and on time and on budget! —Diana Leafe Christian,author ofCreating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities,editor ofCommunities magazine Cohousers are partners in a unique development process, and this book is the perfect handbook to guide that process. Cohousers must achieve some measure of fluency as “resident developers” in order to constructively contribute — with The Cohousing Handbook, Chris and Kelly have provided essential tools to make it all possible. — Bruce Coldham, Coldham Architects Kelly and Chris wrote this eminently practical book to summarize everything they have learned about making cohousing work in 20 years of doing it. They cover all the steps.... The writing is clear and full of concrete details that make the general principles spring to life. — Gifford Pinchot, from the Foreword NEW SOCIETY PUBLISHERS Cataloging in Publication Data: A catalog record for this publication is available from the National Library of Canada. Copyright © 2005 by Chris ScottHanson and Kelly ScottHanson. All rights reserved. Cover design by Diane MacIntosh, illustration by Laura Fitch. Printed in Canada. First printing, December 2004. Paperback ISBN: 0-86571-517-3 Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of The Cohousing Handbook should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below. To order directly from the publishers, please add $4.50 shipping to the price of the first copy, and $1.00 for each additional copy (plus GST in Canada). Send check or money order to: New Society Publishers P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada 1-800-567-6772 New Society Publishers’ mission is to publish books that contribute in funda- mental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision. We are committed to doing this not just through education, but through action. We are acting on our commitment to the world’s remaining ancient forests by phasing out our paper supply from ancient forests worldwide. This book is one step towards ending global deforestation and climate change. It is printed on acid-free paper that is 100% old growth forest-free (100% post-con- sumer recycled), processed chlorine free, and printed with vegetable based, low VOC inks. For further information, or to browse our full list of books and pur- chase securely, visit our website at: www.newsociety.com NEW SOCIETY PUBLISHERS www.newsociety.com Contents Acknowledgments .................................................................................................... vii Contributors............................................................................................................... ix Foreword by Gifford Pinchot.................................................................................. xi Chapter One: Introduction...................................................................................... 1 ❖ Why Community? ❖ What is Cohousing? ❖ What is this book? ❖ ❖ Don’t read this book! ❖ Theory and practice ❖ The creative process ❖ ❖ Setting goals and achieving them ❖ Short answers to a few common questions ❖ Chapter Two: Forming a Group ........................................................................... 17 ❖ Identity and becoming ❖ Another being in the room ❖ ❖ We are each different — finding out who you are ❖ ❖ Group process and group dynamics ❖ Maintaining records ❖ ❖ Organization development ❖ Special issues ❖ Chapter Three: The Development Process ........................................................ 39 ❖ Patterns for success ❖ What is a developer? ❖ ❖ How does a developer create Cohousing? ❖ Chapter Four: Working with Professionals........................................................ 51 ❖ What professionals will you need? ❖ Who (or what) is an architect? ❖ ❖ Selection process ❖ Contracts ❖ Using professionals effectively ❖ Performance review ❖ Chapter Five: Buying Land .................................................................................... 65 ❖ Land is available ❖ Defining expectations ❖ Mapping reality ❖ The search process ❖ ❖Talking to land owners ❖ Making an offer ❖ Trying again ❖ Feasibility analysis ❖ ❖ Project feasibility checklist ❖ Special considerations ❖ Forming an organization ❖ ❖ Summary ❖ Chapter Six: The Design Process......................................................................... 93 ❖ The language of design ❖ Working with your design team ❖ Parallel design tracks ❖ ❖ Programming ❖ Goals for the site plan ❖ What if we need to change the program? ❖ ❖ Schematic design ❖ Construction documents ❖ ❖ Value engineering or cost reconciliation ❖ Construction supervision ❖ ❖ Post-occupancy evaluation ❖ Summary ❖ Chapter Seven: Design Considerations ............................................................ 125 ❖ Purposeful separation from the car ❖ Pedestrian pathways ❖ ❖ Kitchens facing the pedestrian pathways ❖ Centrally located common house ❖ ❖ Optimum community size ❖ Learning from the past ❖ Affordability ❖ ❖ How design affects affordability ❖ Design alternatives and housing types ❖ ❖ Site considerations ❖ The common house ❖ Private unit design ❖ Summary ❖ Chapter Eight: Environment............................................................................... 149 ❖ Use of the car ❖ Site selection ❖ Site planning ❖ Housing types ❖ ❖ Reduce,reuse,recycle ❖ Managing costs ❖ summary ❖ Chapter Nine: Legal Issues.................................................................................. 167 ❖ Legal advice ❖ Ownership structure ❖ Setting up your corporation ❖ Summary ❖ Chapter Ten: Finance and Budget...................................................................... 179 ❖ It takes money ❖ Language of development financing ❖ Budgets and pro formas ❖ ❖ Borrowing money ❖ Other issues ❖ Establishing preliminary unit pricing ❖ ❖ Summary ❖ Chapter Eleven: Marketing and Membership ................................................. 203 ❖ Why marketing and membership ❖ Who are cohousing people? ❖ ❖ Race and ethnicity in cohousing ❖ What attracts people to cohousing? ❖ The marketing plan ❖ Implementing the plan — a few recommendations ❖ ❖ New members ❖ Database and waiting list maintenance ❖ Summary ❖ Chapter Twelve: Scheduling and Planning....................................................... 229 ❖ Project tasks and milestones ❖ Schedule charts ❖ ❖ Sample schedule charts ❖ Summary ❖ Chapter Thirteen: Permits and Approvals....................................................... 237 ❖ Land use approvals ❖ Building permits (fire and safety approvals) ❖ ❖ The common house kitchen ❖ Appealable actions ❖ ❖ Common types of government approvals ❖ Other considerations ❖ ❖ Three examples of the approval process ❖ Number of housing units allowed ❖ ❖ Speeding up the process ❖ Chapter Fourteen: The Construction Process................................................. 251 ❖ Typical construction schedule ❖ Letting go ❖ Design changes ❖ ❖ Making sweat equity practical ❖ Managing the contingency fund ❖ Summary ❖ Chapter Fifteen: Moving In ................................................................................. 257 ❖ Move-in packet ❖ Plan your move — individually, and as a community ❖ ❖ Move-in schedule ❖ Planning for the future ❖ Summary ❖ Appendix: Sample Documents ........................................................................... 263 Index ......................................................................................................................... 283 About the Authors................................................................................................. 290
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