“Cohousing is a type of collaborative housing in which residents actively participate in the design and operation of their own neighborhoods. Cohousing residents are consciously committed to living as a community. The physical design encourages both social contact and individual space. Private homes contain all the features of conventional homes, but residents also have access to extensive common facilities such as open space, courtyards, a playground, and a common house with a large kitchen and dining room/meeting room and other facilities.”

Characteristics

These characteristics serve to distinguish cohousing from other types of collaborative housing:

• Participatory process
• Neighborhood design
• Common facilities
• Resident management
• Non-hierarchical governance structure and decision-making
• No shared community economy

There are more than 100 cohousing communities in the United States with many others around the world. The best source of information is the website of the Cohousing Association of the United States (CohoUS).