I live in a Nonprofit
Close neighbors make life better in cohousing
In 2016, I moved into Jackson Place Cohousing in Central Seattle. Our urban cohousing community has 27 units housing approximately 65 people. Individual, fully equipped condos surround a public courtyard and we share a large kitchen and dining room, kids playroom, living room, office and laundry room. We each have our own space, but we have plenty of opportunities to get to know each other and we work together to manage the property, with decisions made by consensus.
For some, this arrangement may sound scary or unworkable. For me, it is great to live in community and share many of our resources. We have just one lawnmower, many shared tools, shared fruit trees, and a shared large room where we can host private parties as well as cohousing events. How wonderful to need less stuff and be able to have a lighter footprint!
We have the option to eat one or two meals per week with neighbors. This builds relationships that mean I can easily borrow a car, find a ride to the airport, or quickly get an ingredient I forgot to buy for tonight’s dinner. And it’s fun!
Shared management is a good fit for me as well. I spend about the same amount of time as I did when I was a single homeowner, but I can contribute to the areas where I have skills (gardening, facilitating meetings) and let others figure out some of the things I am bad at (choosing roofing contractor or tinkering with a broken garage door, for example). We are all invested in the community’s success and value our relationships with neighbors, so when things get difficult, we try to work through the issues. This leads to deeper learning about diversity and equity and greater respect for differences.
Jackson Place Cohousing was founded by a dedicated group of volunteers who worked for years before they were able to build the community and occupy it in 2001. I’m lucky that I joined the community when it was already up and running. This type of arrangement is not for everyone, but I am grateful to be a part of it. It’s one kind of nonprofit structure that provides homes and community connection.
Photo: kids chalk art in the courtyard at Jackson Place Cohousing, viewed from my balcony.