Editing Cohousing (section)

{{Short description|Intentional community of private homes clustered around shared space}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
[[Image:SunwardCohousingPlayStructure2005.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Cohousing playground next to common house]]

'''Cohousing''' is an [[Intentional community|intentional]],<ref name="Albright">{{cite web |last1=Albright |first1=Ty |title=More than Cohousing – Cohousing Like and other Alternative Housing Solutions – what's the difference? |url=https://www.cohousing.org/more-than-cohousing-cohousing-like-and-other-alternative-housing-solutions-whats-the-difference/ |website=cohousing.org |access-date=5 July 2024 |date=15 March 2017}}</ref> self-governing,<ref>{{cite web |last1=DePaulo |first1=Bella |title=What Does a Cohousing Community Look Like? |url=https://belladepaulo.com/2013/08/what-does-a-cohousing-community-look-like/ |website=belladepaulo.com |access-date=5 July 2024 |date=13 August 2013}}</ref> cooperative community where residents live in private homes often clustered around shared space.<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/61/44/C0464450.html Cohousing definition] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416055527/http://www.bartleby.com/61/44/C0464450.html |date=16 April 2009 }} (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin 2000).</ref> The term originated in [[Denmark]] in the late 1960s.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the City|last=Caves|first=R. W.|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|pages=119}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Giorgi |first1=Emanuele |title=The Co-Housing Phenomenon: Environmental Alliance in Times of Changes |date=2020 |publisher=Springer |location=Cham |isbn=978-3-030-37097-8 |pages=93–115 |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37097-8_4 |language=en |chapter=Co-housing |series=The Urban Book Series |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-37097-8_4}}</ref> Families live in attached or [[Single-family detached home|single-family homes]] with traditional amenities, usually including a private [[kitchenette]].  As part of the communal orientation, shared spaces typically feature a common house, which may include a large kitchen and dining area, laundry, and recreational spaces.  Walkways, open space, parking, playgrounds and gardens are common examples of shared outdoor spaces designed to promote social interactions. Neighbors also often share resources like tools, babysitting and creative skills.

Neighbors collaboratively plan and manage community activities and shared spaces while maintaining their own income and private lives.<ref>{{cite web |title=About [LA Ecovillage] |url=https://laecovillage.org/home/about-2/ |website=laecovillage.org |access-date=1 July 2024}}</ref> The legal structure is typically a [[homeowner association]] or [[housing cooperative]],<ref>{{cite web |last=REBAC Staff |date=31 December 2018 |title=Cohousing: Private Homes With Community Living |url=https://homebuying.realtor/content/cohousing-private-homes-community-living |access-date=30 June 2024 |website=homebuying.realtor.com}}</ref> and some use [[Land trust|community land trusts.]]<ref name="CLT for cohousing">{{cite web |date=14 April 2019 |title=Land Trusts: Affordable, Cooperative and Restorative |url=https://www.planning.org/conference/nationalconferenceactivity/9165377/ |access-date=30 June 2024 |website=planning,org}}</ref> To promote the common good, cohousing members regularly share meals, attend meetings, and participate in community work days.<ref>{{cite web |last=Senior Cohousing Advocates Committee |date=28 September 2023 |title=Managing participation in Community |url=https://www.cohousing.org/managing-participation-in-community/ |access-date=30 June 2024 |website=cohousing.org}}</ref> As part of cohousing's social nature, neighbors gather for parties, games, gardening, musical performances, movies, sports, and celebrations. Living in cohousing makes it easy for residents to form clubs, organize child and elder care, share information, free cycle and [[carpool]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Cherry Hill Cohousing: What is Cohousing? |url=https://web.cohousing.com/ |website=wen.cohousing.com |access-date=7 July 2024}}</ref>

Cohousing facilitates interaction among neighbors and thereby provides social, practical, economic, and environmental benefits.<ref name="McCamant, Kathryn 1994">McCamant, Kathryn; Durrett, Charles. "Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves." Berkeley, Ca.: Ten Speed Press, 1994.</ref><ref name="Durrett, Charles 2009">Durrett, Charles. "Senior Cohousing: A Community Approach to Independent Living." Gabriola Island, B.C.: New Society Publishers, 2009.</ref>  With democracy in action in their cohousing community, residents also tend to be more active in civic<ref name="civid invovlement">{{cite web |last1=Berggren |first1=Heidi |title=Cohousing as Civic Society: Cohousing Involvement and Political Participation in the United States∗ |url=https://www.umassd.edu/media/umassdartmouth/political-science/facultydocs/Cohousing-as-Civic-Society.pdf |website=UMass.edu |publisher=umassdartmouth |access-date=30 June 2024}}</ref> affairs in the broader community.