Cohousing post-COVID

By Paul Sherman on 12 April 2020

We hope that you and your loved ones (human and otherwise) are staying safe and well during this health crisis that has created an unsettling new normal for all of us. In keeping with our core value of being good neighbors, members of BSC are doing our best to stay isolated and to flatten the curve of infection here in Massachusetts.

Although we are physically separated, we remain a productive, connected community. Since receiving our final permit in February, we have been making important design and budgeting decisions for our 30-unit building outside Malden Square. This includes an 11-hour design meeting spread over two days, conducted remotely via Zoom. Similarly, committee meetings and plenary sessions have also moved online since mid-March. We have gotten more comfortable using Zoom for interactive discussions, so our community can continue to make progress even while we are remote.

We’ve also tried to have some fun. Our planned March social (a trip to the New England Aquarium) turned into an online social where our members shared their recent experiences and, essentially, hung out. In the past month, we’ve also had a night of online games curated by the developers of the 90’s game “You Don’t Know Jack” and begun a Quarantine Theater movie club, which has already screened three movies (we have been focusing on American movies of the late ’30s so far, though an Akira Kurosawa movie may be next). One of our members recently wrote a blog post about the movie club and other ways in which we are trying to make the most of social closeness while physically distancing. BSC households are also doing what they can to support our area medical personnel, with many of our crafters making masks to donate to area hospitals.

Marketing

We have units available! Although it may seem like an odd time to be marketing, we hope to have all seven available units filled in the coming months. Studios, one-bedroom, and one-bedroom+ units are currently available. If you are interested in looking at the layouts of these units, please see our unit availability page. You are also welcome to virtually attend our online every-other week meetings, or attend a remote social. We are also happy to speak with you one on one. To join a meeting, sign up on our Meetup page or email BayStateCommons@gmail.com for details.

Construction Update

As noted above, after working with the City of Malden for the past 18 months, we now have all of our permits! On February 13, we hosted a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of building our new home. We hope to proceed with foundation work on our building, while complying with local regulations and social-distancing guidelines, as we move towards a late-2021 move-in. In the meantime, our architects have won an award for the design of our building in Architect magazine. Learn more about the award here.