Comments for McCamant & Durrett Architects http://www.charlesdurrett.com/blog The Cohousing Company Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:15:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 Comment on Senior Cohousing — Making it Happen by Raines Cohen http://www.charlesdurrett.com/blog/?p=9&cpage=1#comment-9 Raines Cohen Thu, 26 Mar 2009 07:42:29 +0000 http://www.charlesdurrett.com/blog/?p=9#comment-9 Alan, of course, in any development, it has to "pencil out" first and foremost before it is a viable project that can attract financing and buyers. Yes, it takes more work, and it is a political process, to build at higher densities, even when clustering means that you're preserving more open space and minimizing impacts on neighbors. No matter what you do, NIMBY challenges can arise. I think the key difference the cohousing model can provide is the resident engagement so that you have local on-the-ground allies going to bat for the project, as future homeowners, who can relate to neighbors directly and individually, rather than you as the "evil"/"greedy"/"out of town" (choose your epithet) developer without a vested interest in the end result. There are some cohousing neighborhoods with as few as eight units, but it is hard to get good economies of scale and sufficient common facilities to make the units small enough to benefit when you're that small. I moved from a 20-unit community to a 14-unit one (Berkeley cohousing, which Chuck mentions above) and find that it is harder to get critical mass for events and more work per person per quarter to enjoy three meals a week together. I highly recommend planning not just for this gathering in Boulder, but the national cohousing conference in Seattle in June, for extensive exposure to the full range of cohousing movement leaders and ideas. Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach http://www.CohousingCoach.com/ Planning for Sustainable Communities at Berkeley (CA) Cohousing Co-Author, Audacious Aging Alan,

of course, in any development, it has to “pencil out” first and foremost before it is a viable project that can attract financing and buyers. Yes, it takes more work, and it is a political process, to build at higher densities, even when clustering means that you’re preserving more open space and minimizing impacts on neighbors. No matter what you do, NIMBY challenges can arise. I think the key difference the cohousing model can provide is the resident engagement so that you have local on-the-ground allies going to bat for the project, as future homeowners, who can relate to neighbors directly and individually, rather than you as the “evil”/”greedy”/”out of town” (choose your epithet) developer without a vested interest in the end result.

There are some cohousing neighborhoods with as few as eight units, but it is hard to get good economies of scale and sufficient common facilities to make the units small enough to benefit when you’re that small. I moved from a 20-unit community to a 14-unit one (Berkeley cohousing, which Chuck mentions above) and find that it is harder to get critical mass for events and more work per person per quarter to enjoy three meals a week together.

I highly recommend planning not just for this gathering in Boulder, but the national cohousing conference in Seattle in June, for extensive exposure to the full range of cohousing movement leaders and ideas.

Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach http://www.CohousingCoach.com/
Planning for Sustainable Communities
at Berkeley (CA) Cohousing

Co-Author, Audacious Aging

]]> Comment on Senior Cohousing — Making it Happen by Alan macrae http://www.charlesdurrett.com/blog/?p=9&cpage=1#comment-5 Alan macrae Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:48:21 +0000 http://www.charlesdurrett.com/blog/?p=9#comment-5 Charles, I had a meeting with a couple of friends who have been following co-housing for years. We have concerns about the cost of the units here. A similar piece of land (1 1/4 acres) is selling for $800k. Re-zoning for more than the 8 units is like poking a hornet's nest expect a year long struggle, court costs etc. There is a Senior Co-housing group that is in its second year and who knows how much in the way of money fighting their way through a zone change and other issues that the community found to stonewall them. Alan Charles, I had a meeting with a couple of friends who have been following co-housing for years. We have concerns about the cost of the units here. A similar piece of land (1 1/4 acres) is selling for $800k. Re-zoning for more than the 8 units is like poking a hornet’s nest expect a year long struggle, court costs etc. There is a Senior Co-housing group that is in its second year and who knows how much in the way of money fighting their way through a zone change and other issues that the community found to stonewall them. Alan

]]> Comment on Senior Cohousing — Making it Happen by charlesdurrett http://www.charlesdurrett.com/blog/?p=9&cpage=1#comment-4 charlesdurrett Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:51:10 +0000 http://www.charlesdurrett.com/blog/?p=9#comment-4 Looking forward to seeing you. No problem about your land size - you can do something on 2/3 of an acre. The 16 unit project you are going to see in Boulder is on 3/4 acres. 8 units is a little small. Perhaps you can get a variance for a dozen units. We did a really sweet project in Emeryville, California, of 12 units on .29 acres, and a very sweet project in Berkeley, California, of 14 units on .75 acres. If you want to view these projects, click on the links in the right column of my blog under "Cohousing Communities". Looking forward to seeing you. No problem about your land size - you can do something on 2/3 of an acre. The 16 unit project you are going to see in Boulder is on 3/4 acres. 8 units is a little small. Perhaps you can get a variance for a dozen units. We did a really sweet project in Emeryville, California, of 12 units on .29 acres, and a very sweet project in Berkeley, California, of 14 units on .75 acres. If you want to view these projects, click on the links in the right column of my blog under “Cohousing Communities”.

]]> Comment on Senior Cohousing — Making it Happen by Alan macrae http://www.charlesdurrett.com/blog/?p=9&cpage=1#comment-3 Alan macrae Sun, 15 Mar 2009 17:46:05 +0000 http://www.charlesdurrett.com/blog/?p=9#comment-3 I have signed up for your workshop and I have some questions for you. I am a builder/developer in the small town of Taos NM. Most people here 55 and older have heard of elder co-housing and I anticipate a healthy turn out if I do the work outlined in your website. I have a 2/3 of an acre piece of land zoned for 8 units. Is this enough land to do cohousing? Do I need more than 8 participants to do a project? Land in the downtown area of Taos is prohibitively expensive. Even in this economic environment I could expect to pay hundreds of thousands for anything larger than an acre. I have signed up for your workshop and I have some questions for you. I am a builder/developer in the small town of Taos NM. Most people here 55 and older have heard of elder co-housing and I anticipate a healthy turn out if I do the work outlined in your website.
I have a 2/3 of an acre piece of land zoned for 8 units. Is this enough land to do cohousing? Do I need more than 8 participants to do a project? Land in the downtown area of Taos is prohibitively expensive. Even in this economic environment I could expect to pay hundreds of thousands for anything larger than an acre.

]]> Comment on The Senior Predicament by Jonnie http://www.charlesdurrett.com/blog/?p=5&cpage=1#comment-2 Jonnie Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:53:51 +0000 http://www.charlesdurrett.com/blog/?p=5#comment-2 Yes, <a HREF="http://www.eldercohousing.org/" rel="nofollow">elder cohousing</A>, focusing on the needs of adults over 55, has emerged as an exciting new trend in the cohousing movement in the US. The <a HREF="http://www.cohousing.org/conference" rel="nofollow">2009 National Cohousing Conference</A> in Seattle on June 24-28 will include some interesting explorations on the topic, including a two-day Senior Cohousing workshop by Chuck Durrett, and presentations on affordability and aging in place. Yes, elder cohousing, focusing on the needs of adults over 55, has emerged as an exciting new trend in the cohousing movement in the US. The 2009 National Cohousing Conference in Seattle on June 24-28 will include some interesting explorations on the topic, including a two-day Senior Cohousing workshop by Chuck Durrett, and presentations on affordability and aging in place.

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