Archive for the 'Upcoming Events' Category

Moving the movement forward

Published
by
charlesdurrett
on May 6, 2009
in Cohousing and Upcoming Events
. 0 Comments

Dear all,

I was reticent at first — another conference?  But then I know that fundamentally this is the time for cohousing and expanding our individual groups possibilities by sharing at this crucial time.  I know that we can do so much more together to not only survive but to thrive and yes, even have some fun.  

Down the road from us, in Lincoln, California, there are 7 out of 10 houses in foreclosure on one cul-de-sac.  I don’t know of this current economic downturn creating one cohousing foreclosure — do you?  And I know of movements within cohousing to help others if some get close.  This is the time for simple houses, simple living, cooperation, cheap land, smart construction, cooperation and sharing.  Come to the Cohousing Conference in Seattle in the end of June if you possibly can — in order to learn how to make your project more economical, more successful, and yes, more fun.  

“We are tied together in the single garment of destiny: caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.  What affects one directly affects all indirectly.  For some strange reason I cannot be all that I ought to be until you are all that you ought to be, and you cannot be all that you ought to be until I am all that I ought to be.  This is the way the universe is structured.”  - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in Staying Awake Through the Revolution

“As a Baby Boomer, I’ve joked for a few years that we’ll all end up living communally again because Social Security will be broke . . . this is one of the better ways to envision it.”  (Book review of Senior Cohousing in the Sacramento Bee, April, 2009).  

See www.cohousing.org for details.

Book Signing for new edition of Senior Cohousing

Published
by
charlesdurrett
on April 21, 2009
in Cohousing, Group Formation, Senior Living and Upcoming Events
. 0 Comments

One of the best ways to get a new senior cohousing community started in your town is to organize a book signing at your local, if not larger, yet preferably independent bookstore.  The best method to get that started is to walk into the store with a copy of the new book, and several press clippings about senior cohousing — which is easy since last year cohousing was on the front page of the L.A. Times last year, and the N.Y. Times the year before that — and a great A.P. story by Andrea Sainz just appeared in 320 newspapers nation wide.  If you’re serious about planning a book signing or just want to get the book into your local book store, send a self addressed 10” x 17” envelope and we’ll put a press package in the mail to you with 10 – 15 news articles about Senior Cohousing.  

Bookstores often say that they only carry books if the book or the concept has received significant press or if people are coming in the door asking for it.  You will need to show the “significant press.”  But we find that once we show the plethora of news articles, bookstores are game to give it a try — and end up pleasantly surprised with the number of book sales.  Rick, the bookstore manager of Elliot Bay Books in Seattle, Washington says that our first book sold over 550 copies after the signing we did there.  It also resulted in about a dozen communities being built in the Seattle area.  

For more information on this topic check out the blog at http://www.mccamant-durrett.com

Designing and Living a Green Life

Published
by
admin
on February 6, 2009
in Upcoming Events
. 0 Comments

How do you get your electric bill down to zero?  Nationally acclaimed and locally based architect Charles Durrett will share this and other tricks of sustainable design, at a slide presentation Wed, Feb 18, 7:00 pm at the Nevada City Veteran’s Hall, 415 No. Pine Street.  Durrett’s firm was recognized last year by the National Association of Homebuilders for energy efficiency, for its Nevada City Cohousing development.

Durrett is best known for his work relating sustainability to sociability.  He argues that highly sociable neighborhoods are also more environmentally sustainable and he has authored two popular audience books interpreting a Danish neighborhood patterns.  He and his wife and partner, Kathryn McCamant introduced the “cohousing” model to the United States, a cross between eco-village and custom neighborhood.

According to Durrett, when it comes to carbon footprint, solar panels are nice but are really just the finishing touch, after lifestyle and design.  “Half of the country’s energy is used for heating, cooling, and lighting buildings, and much of it is unnecessary.”  He says that his own home’s electric bill for all of 2008 was a negative $83.34, and he has only a single kilowatt of solar generation.  

Durrett will also discuss ways to live green beyond saving energy.  He will show examples of social neighborhoods that embody a green lifestyle, as well as projects which reduce toxicity, reduce lumber in framing, use recycled and reclaimed building materials, retain water on-site and effectively steward land.   

Members of Wolf Creek Village in Grass Valley will be present and available to talk about their cohousing communities, currently in development.

Charles Durrett is the winner of the 2001 United Nations Human Habitat award, among others.  McCamant & Durrett also designed the LEED certified Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno, California, the first LEED building in California’s South Central Valley.

Senior Cohousing — Making it Happen

Published
by
admin
on February 3, 2009
in Upcoming Events
. 4 Comments

April 20-24, 2009 Boulder, Colorado - Silver Sage Village

Cost is $1,250 for 5-Day Workshop. $100 non-refundable deposit holds your spot. Price goes to $1,450 after March 20, 2009. 

$100 non-refundable deposit holds your spot.  Participants limited to 20.

seniorsWho should attend: Anyone who’s excited about creating senior cohousing and wants to take a leadership role in creating a community. You might be a builder, a developer, an executive of a senior living organization, an individual who works with older adults, a government housing leader, or an individual who wants to organize a new senior cohousing community for yourself.

If you want to start a senior cohousing community, you couldn’t get a better grounding than to spend five days with three of the country’s leading experts exploring the many facets of this innovative option for seniors. Chuck Durrett, Jim Leach and Annie Russell will be bringing you five days of experience, tools, and invaluable coaching focused on you – the participants – and your projects.

This workshop is highly experiential. Mornings will be spent exploring the many issues faced by seniors who are contemplating a signifi cant life change to support them as they age. These topics include aging in community, working with your neighbors to provide a supportive environment, the physical realities of aging, the economics of aging, what seniors have to offer each other and their communities, and the risks and rewards of senior cohousing.

This information will arm you with everything you need to recruit seniors to your project.

Afternoons will be spent working on case studies drawn from the participants, examining the many opportunities and issues of developing senior cohousing. The focus of these cases, tailored to the needs of the group, will include fi nding land, feasibility, the development timeline, roles and responsibilities of a project team and its members, financing, building community, and marketing. The story of Silver Sage through these development steps will be presented.

You’ll have a chance to meet and talk with Silver Sage Cohousing residents about their experience after the first year, and on Friday a tour of other cohousing communities in the Boulder area will be provided.

At the end of these five days you can expect to leave with comprehensive written materials, and significant understanding of how to market, sell, and develop a senior cohousing community.

Your trainers: Chuck Durrett, an architect, pioneered the first cohousing communities in the United States after studying cohousing communities in Denmark. Fifteen years later he visited Denmark again to study Senior Cohousing and authored the book, Senior Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Independent Living – The Handbook. Chuck has been a tireless advocate for cohousing for 20 years and has designed all or part of over 50 cohousing communities in the US, many of which have received numerous awards. Chuck, his wife and partner Katie, and daughter Jessie live in Nevada City Cohousing.

Jim Leach has been a developer of innovative housing since 1965 and is president of Wonderland Hill Development Company, the largest developer of cohousing in the US. Since 1990 Jim has developed 18 cohousing communities, including Silver Sage, one of the first senior cohousing communities in the US. Jim is known for his commitment and creativity in putting together the business end of each development. Jim and his wife Brownie live in Silver Sage Cohousing.

Annie Russell has been a team builder and organization consultant for 15 years. She was a founding member of Wild Sage Cohousing and the Community Builder for Wonderland Hill Development Company and Cohousing Partners. She has coached many communities in community building, and she led the marketing and community building efforts of Silver Sage. Annie lives in Silver Sage Cohousing.

“As an architect, I’d like nothing better to do than just design these wonderful communities, but there is much work to be accomplished before drawing the very fi rst line on paper. People need to explore the realities of their future before they are ready to make changes, be less in denial, and become self-determining in terms of maintaining the highest quality of living — both independently and intra-dependently — as they grow older. Planning for the future is an essential component of being able to create appropriate senior environments.” Charles Durrett

SENIOR COHOUSING is a form of housing that offers a smalltown-like alternative to isolation, institutionalization, and expensive assisted-living facilities. Important, yes, but perhaps even more important is that the residents of senior cohousing seem to have a wonderful time.

Designed with the consensus of its residents, senior cohousing creates community, communication, and support, and a lot more fun than any living arrangement since the college dorms.

By design, it includes both private dwellings and common areas. And by way of intent, it makes life easier through cooperation with others. This is true of inter-generational cohousing as well, but what makes senior cohousing unique is the time spent prior to design – time where the seniors themselves examine the issues related to aging and how the world in which they live will influence successful aging.

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