‘Cohousing’ gets foothold in Idaho | Boise, Garden City, Mountain Home | Idaho Statesman
The Treasure Valley has no formal ”cohousing“ communities yet. The residential landscape of the future may include them.
Boise isn’t yet home to formal cohousing communities. However, some Boiseans are embracing cohousing ideas, committing to live cooperatively, sharing common spaces and more.
Jenn Siegel, 32, runs a business, Greener Cleaners. She and two roommates share a house in Northwest Boise. They have a large yard where they raise chickens. Plans for next year include a communal garden. Meals are frequently shared. A geodesic dome in the backyard serves as common, community space.
”We’re all involved in nonprofit work. We have fundraisers, dance parties there,“ Siegel said. Friends and neighbors gathered recently at the dome for a potluck.
Jonna Moore, a member of the Boise Sustainable Living Community, shares Siegel’s vision of cooperative living. She’s had a persistent dream, she said, that one day she’ll be able to live in Boise in a small-scale community with lots of people of all ages, lots of fresh produce and plenty of able hands to can it.
Moore and the other members of the Sustainable Living Community have been meeting since 2007 to talk about green building, local eating and more — including ideas about ”cohousing,“ aka ”urban villages,“ or ”eco-housing.“
A visit to a cohousing community in California this summer inspired Moore to invite the community’s designer, architect Kathryn McCamant, to Boise.
McCamant will give a free presentation Wednesday at Boise State.
Cohousing can take many forms. It’s not synonymous with ”commune“ — residents don’t necessarily share property or pool incomes. Typical features include a mix of private and public spaces.
Sometimes cohousing residents share religious or philosophical beliefs, sometimes they don’t. Often residents collaborate to garden, cook or care for children or older residents.
”Cohousing might not be a fit for everyone, but it would be nice to have that option,“ Moore said.
The cohousing movement is getting a foothold across the U.S. In October and November, the Cohousing Association of the United States is offering ”cohousing tours“ in which people can see the workings of cohousing communities for themselves in cities as disparate as Boulder/Denver, Chapel Hill, San Francisco, Boston and Seattle.
In some ways, Siegel said, cohousing is an old idea.
”My grandfather talked about the Depression, when it was common for people to move in together to share resources. He himself lived in a tent in his cousins’ backyard,“ Siegel said.
Even if it’s not an economic necessity, cohousing has advantages.
”It feels unique and wonderful to live in a household of people of different ages, and to collaborate,“ Siegel said.
One of her roommates teaches yoga. She attends his classes. Another roommate is a die-hard bike commuter. This inspires Siegel to bike commute a couple times each week to work herself — hauling her cleaning equipment in a bike trailer.
John Gardner, a sustainability expert at Boise State, is pleased McCamant is coming to Boise.
”I’ve learned that we need to work on new ways to live,“ Gardner said.
He’s already started talking with his own friends about possible cohousing arrangements when they retire.
”Ever since World War II, we've been told the American Dream is a house in the suburbs,“ he said. ”Having done that, I don’t think that’s really quality of life. We need to do some rethinking about how we house ourselves.“
Anna Webb: 377-6431
8 GO SUSTAINABLE IN BOISE
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