Questioning the SENIOR COHOUSING CHALLENGE: A Cross-Sector Analysis of Interviews with Leading Experts by Lynn Pfeffer A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architectural Studies Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2018 Lynn Pfeffer Abstract Seniors will make up an unprecedented 25% of Canadians by the year 2030. This demographic shift will challenge our society to address the basic human right of a dignified and healthy aging. One troubling aspect of aging is the degree to which seniors experience isolation and loneliness. Cohousing can offer older adults a place to age in place, within a ‘community-of-care’. However, the challenges of creating senior cohousing are numerous – the failure rates staggering. What factors contribute to this challenge? What could the way forward look like? This thesis searches for answers in the perspectives of professionals representing sectors of the development process. Interviews were conducted with experts in: non-profit housing, housing policy, development consulting, and private real-estate. Focusing on urban senior cohousing in Ottawa, Convivium Cohousing is used as a case study to ground the theory. It is expected findings will transfer to other parts of Canada. ii Acknowledgments With the deepest gratitude and respect, I thank my supervisor Federica Goffi for her unwavering support and encouragement. Your uncanny ability to know when to give feedback and when to listen is deeply appreciated. To all those who participated so generously and willingly in the interviews for this thesis, I am indebted to you for your insights and expertise. To Convivium Cohousing members, your perseverance and commitment have inspired me to continue on this challenging journey. Thank you for your patience while I turned my attention to this thesis work. Gratitude to my dear friends for being there when I needed to rail, cry, or laugh; you know who you are. To my dear Mother, for all the sacrifices you have made on my behalf, I am eternally grateful, and to all my other ‘mothers’ of this lifetime, thank you for your love. This thesis is dedicated to all those in the future who may aspire to create a cohousing community. iii Questioning the SENIOR COHOUSING CHALLENGE: A Cross-Sector Analysis of Interviews with Leading Experts Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………ii Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………iii Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………..iv Thesis Document: Prologue…………………………………………………...........................................1 00 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………4 0.1 What is the Purpose of this Research?.............................................4 0.2 Why is this important to Canadian seniors and our society?........5 0.3 What are the questions?....................................................................7 0.4 What methods are used for this research?......................................7 0.5 A Note on the contemporary nature of this thesis..........................9 0.6 Process as Product.............................................................................10 01 Part One: What is Cohousing?.......................................................................11 1.1 A Spirit of Community..........................................................................11 1.2 The Principles of Cohousing...............................................................13 1.3 Convivium Cohousing for Seniors as Case Study............................15 1.4 Senior Cohousing versus Intergenerational Cohousing..................17 1.5 ‘Community of Care’..........................................................................18 02 Part Two: Affordable Housing or Housing Affordability?...............................20 2.1 Definitions of Affordability....................................................................21 2.2 The ‘Affordable Housing’ Imperative in Housing Policy...................22 2.2.1 City of Ottawa Housing Policy...........................................22 2.3 The New Housing Crisis: Housing Affordability...................................24 iv 2.4 Cohousing Benefits to Health and Health Budgets..........................25 2.5 Financial Strategies for Creating More ‘affordable’ Units in Cohousing.................................................................................26 2.6 Case-Study: The Affordability Challenge within Convivium............28 2.7 Commentary.........................................................................................29 Inter-logue..............................................................................................................31 03 Part Three: The Complex Nature of the Development Process....................33 3.1 A Crucial Role: (Cohousing?) Development Consultant.................33 3.2 The Private Developer..........................................................................34 3.3 Roles of the Cohousing Development Consultant............................34 3.4 Cohousing Development Consultant versus Development Consultant.....................................................................35 3.5 Limited Availability of Cohousing Consultants...................................35 3.6 The Cohousing Development Process................................................36 04 Part Four: Necessary Steps to Cohousing Success………………………….....38 4.1. Assessing the Feasibility of the Project (Land, Money & Capacity)...........38 4.2 Choosing a Legal Structure; Condo versus Co-op.............................39 4.3 Choosing a Project Delivery Approach; Alternative Development Models.............................................................................41 4.4 Case-Study: Choosing a Development Model for Convivium..........43 4.5 The Challenge of Finding and Securing a Site.....................................46 05 Part Five: Housing Policy……………………………………………………………...48 5.1 The Politics of Housing.............................................................................48 5.2 The Social Housing Priority.......................................................................48 5.3 Funding Sources and Allocation............................................................49 5.4. ‘Aging in Place’: A New Policy Direction..............................................51 v 06 Part Six: Hurdles and Potential Development Opportunities (City of Ottawa)....53 6.1 Perceived Risks: A City of Ottawa Perspective.....................................53 6.2 New Construction is Expensive................................................................56 6.3 Creating Senior Cohousing: Potential Development Opportunities...56 6.4 Summary: Too Risky for the City...............................................................59 07 Part Seven: Conclusions: What Could the Future Look Like?............................60 Epilogue.....................................................................................................................64 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………........... 70 Appendices: Appendix A: List of Sector Experts…………………………………82 Appendix B: List of Housing Organizations……………………….85 Appendix C: Strategies for Creating more Affordability………86 Appendix D: Tool Kit of Interview Questions……………………..91 Appendix E: Interview Transcripts………………………………...110 Graeme Hussey.....................................111 Jamey Burr.............................................133 Saide Sayah...........................................155 Katie McCamant...................................179 Ronaye Matthew...................................195 David Kardish..........................................211 vi Prologue Arriving back to an Ottawa winter is an unwelcome shock to my system; the warmth of the Colorado sun and its deep blue skies are soon to be a thing of my past. I am returning to Ottawa after 10 years of living in Boulder, Colorado for what is to be an indefinite period of time. My life is about to take a very different turn. The relationship I had been in is over, I am turning 54 and am single for the first time in my life, and I am about to move in with my 86-year-old mother. After a few months of readjusting to my new surroundings I began to contemplate a move, but I really didn’t want to live alone. I was interested in living in community of some kind; one of my fondest memories of Boulder was the months I spent living in a Buddhist urban retreat centre where we each had a small private room but shared our meals and meditation sessions. I had heard about the only cohousing to be built in Ottawa – Terra Firma Cohousing in Old Ottawa East – and I wanted to know more. I decided to attend a few Sunday common-house dinners to meet the residents and get a feel for the community. I was warmly welcomed and felt comfortable immediately, but Unfortunately, there were no units available for rent or for sale. The founding residents had all lived there together for 15 years now, and all seemed content to continue to live together into their old age, having no plans to move out. One day soon after my visit to Terra Firma, while I was driving home in traffic, I decided to turn the radio on to CBC. A documentary was playing on The Sunday Edition with Michael Enright about a group of older feminists in Paris who were about to move into their radical project called Babayaga House1. A group of activist women, after many years of lobbying, had convinced the green party that was in power, to fund their women-only senior community