Our Vision Statement

Bay State Commons community members, November 5, 2019.

Bay State Commons Vision Statement

As written during visioning workshop facilitated by Kraus-Fitch Architects November 17, 2013

We intend to create a cohousing community that fosters group cohesiveness and serendipitous social interaction between neighbors.

We envision a community in Boston’s Metro-North area with a small-town character and an emphasis on beauty in both architecture and landscape.

We value a balance between the private and the shared, with individually-owned homes supplemented by extensive common facilities and shared green space.

We seek a diverse, multi-generational community with residents who are eager to participate in both design and governance.

We promote an environment that encourages social serendipity:

  • We will design our community to facilitate unplanned socializing.
  • We aim to build a community that enables a natural and easy transition from private space to a shared community space. We strike a balance between private lives and community needs:
  • We prioritize the needs of the individual in private spaces and the needs of the community in public spaces.
  • We respect the privacy of the home.
  • Our community will make space for both privately owned homes and shared common facilities.

We promote a cohesive community:

  • We think of our community as a family of choice.
  • We plan to have community meals on a regular basis.
  • Our members enrich each other through the exchange of knowledge, shared projects, and hobbies.
  • Our community shares in music and celebration.
  • Our community is defined by our care and respect for one another and for our common spaces.

We foster participation in our community:

  • We follow an efficient consensus-based decision-making model.
  • We promote good communication and conflict resolution.
  • We encourage our members to participate in the design process.
  • We plan to welcome the participation of renters in community governance.

We promote diversity in our community:

  • Our community will be inclusive to people of different social, economic, generational, and racial backgrounds, as well as all sexual orientations and gender identities.
  • We will provide a range of unit sizes and prices.
  • We will strive for cost efficiency for individual units.
  • We will provide accessibility to differently-abled people.
  • We promote sustainability in our community:
  • We support an ecologically sustainable lifestyle.
  • We strive for energy efficiency in our community buildings.
  • We will reduce redundancy by sharing selected resources and costly equipment. (We are not an income-sharing community.)
  • We strive to reduce fuel use through car-sharing and a bike-friendly atmosphere.

We picture a small-town character:

  • We strive for a warm and welcoming atmosphere for both residents and guests.
  • Our community will be a safe and nurturing environment in which to raise children.
  • Our ideal community size is 20-30 units.
  • Some or all units will have immediate access to outdoors (private entrances).
  • We will use landscaping and architecture to create a peaceful captive green space full of natural beauty. We intend to place our community in a convenient location:

Our community will have access to quality public schools.

  • The commuting time to Park Street station will be under 1 hour.
  • Our community will be within one mile of regular public transit.
  • Our community will have easy access, by foot or bicycle, to basic services and downtown areas.
  • Our community will be within biking distance to conservation land (if possible).
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