The curious dwellings above may or may not be official cohouses, but they certainly feature two key elements of cohousing—small units located near each other. Besides that, they’re fun to imagine living in!
But what does it really mean to live in cohousing? Does the group share chores and expenses? Is every decision by consensus? What space is shared and what is individual? And, what if you don’t like your neighbor? Or someone signs on but then doesn’t carry his or her weight? Is it becoming more popular because the nation is aging? How much does it cost? Can you rent or must you own? If you try it but don’t like it, can you get out?
A little background: The movement began in the 1960s in Denmark when Danes found something lacking in their single-family-home environment. The concept crossed the Atlantic in the 1980s and by 1991, the first community, Muir Commons, in Davis, California, was completed. Today over 100 cohousing communities across the U.S. and Canada are in various stages of development, and more than 75 are finished and occupied.
We’ll discuss the concept and chew over the questions when Hometown Alaska hosts a national expert on co-housing, an architect, and a spokesperson for Raven’s Roost, a local cohousing initiative with approval from the Municipality’s Planning and Zoning Commission. The group describes itself as the first “owner designed neighborhood in Anchorage.”
Join host Kathleen McCoy, and bring your questions and curiosity.
GUESTS:
In the studio
- 
Tom Pierce-Bulger, local architect
- Terri Pauls, Raven’s Roost speaker
- Katie McCamant, national cohousing expert, studied in Denmark
LINKS:
- Raven’s Roost Cohousing
- Groups envision cooperative living in cohousing design, Anchorage Daily News 4/28/2012
- Where it all began; cohousing in Denmark, Cohousing.org
- Cohousing, Wikipedia
- National Cohousing Directory
- Cohousing challenge and community, by Catha Loomis, Alternatives
- Cohousing Association, USA
- Cohousing, somewhere between neighborhood and commune
- The Good and the Bad of Cohousing, by Casey Schacher, Library Worklife
- In Retiree Housing, Talking about Multigenerations, The New York Times, 3/12/2013
PARTICIPATE:
- Call 550-8433 (Anchorage) or 1-888-353-5752  (statewide) during the live broadcast (2:00 – 3:00pm)
- Send e-mail to hometown@alaskapublic.org before, during or after the live broadcast (e-mails may be read on air)
- Post your comment or question below (comments may be read on air)
HOST: Kathleen McCoy
LIVE BROADCAST: Wednesday, March 27, 2013. 2:00 – 3:00 pm (Alaska time)
REPEAT BROADCAST: Wednesday, March 27, 2013. 7:00 – 8:00 pm (Alaska time)
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