Cohousing Projects Increasing Nationwide

Land has been purchased for what will be Oakland's fourth cohousing project, a collection of about 33 housing units with an underlying purpose of cooperation and community. Similar community housing projects are cropping up across the country.

1 minute read

December 12, 2006, 5:00 AM PST

By Nate Berg

"There are now about 5,000 people living in 93 cohousing communities in 21 states. California, with 43, has the most, followed by Washington (17) and Massachusetts (16). In Northern California, cohousing communities have sprung up in Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, Morgan Hill, Pleasant Hill, San Mateo, Cotati, Davis and elsewhere. A hundred more are in various stages of the formation process -- two of the most recent in Grass Valley (Nevada County) and Fresno."

"'At first,' recalls cohousing architect Charles Durett, who lives with his family in a 34-unit cohousing community in Nevada City, 'we had to fight hard just to get our cohousing projects built. I had a police chief look me in the eye once and say, 'Hey, Chuck, multi-family housing equals crime.' '"

FULL STORY: HOUSES UNITED

Sunday, December 10, 2006 in The San Francisco Chronicle

Architecture Community / Economic Development Housing United States California

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