5/27/2023 0 Comments Beyond contact center![]() The idea behind cohousing comes from Denmark, where, in the 1960s, growing dissatisfaction with single-family housing inspired more collaborative experiments called bofllesskah (living-togetherness). Residents fondly liken their communities to a kind of "extended family" or "modern day village." There are differences and challenges of course, as in any living arrangement, and there are perhaps more responsibilities and higher expectations, but many, after years of sharing their lives, form deep attachments to their neighbors and to this intensely intergenerational way of life.įigure 2: Porch around common house in one cohousing community. One finds, in almost every community, generous physical, technological, and social infrastructure - gathering nodes, internal web servers, traditions and social routines - set up to support these neighborly interactions. Neighbors eagerly contribute their skills to the governing and upkeep of their communities and many delight in sharing their expertise and free time helping each other. Especially among the bigger communities (usually no more than 30 to 40 households), there tend to be a wide range of professions, backgrounds, and skills. Within these communities, busy young families live alongside older neighbors who become "surrogate grandparents" while their own grown children and other relatives live far away. This is on top of the constant (and laborious) task of co-managing the community - Home Owners Association (HOA) meetings, committee meetings, "work parties," cleaning groups and so on - that further oblige interaction among residents. Beyond the physical space, these communities often feature busy social rosters that include weekly (or more) community meals, retreats, movie nights, and other social gatherings. A typical cohousing community combines private homes of different sizes and styles alongside shared facilities - gardens, playgrounds, workshops, gyms, and usually a common house enclosing a large kitchen and dining room - that provide ample opportunity for intergenerational mingling. Unlike most residential developments, cohousing communities are explicitly designed to support and encourage intergenerational living. (Fieldnotes from a cohousing community, 2014) ![]() Everyone is warming up and catching up before the common meal starts. A few others seem to have arrived earlier and have settled comfortably into the lounging chairs happily bantering with each other. One neighbor, as often happens, has his guitar out and is strumming and chatting in between songs. Their parents and neighbors loiter and banter on the porch as others stroll by or stop by on their way home from work. ![]() The younger ones have (wisely) opted out of this relay and are playing among the scattered toys and tricycles on the courtyard in front. A few older kids, apparently practicing their "outdoor voices," are racing each other up and down the play structure off to the side of the porch. There is still time before the dinner bell rings but as usual neighbors have started to gather in front of the Common House in anticipation. ![]() Figure 1: A cohousing community gathering before dinnertime.
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