| A small group of individuals committed to
cohousing has been doing the initial work to create a new cohousing
community somewhere on the westside of Los Angeles. This website
tracks the group's progress as we near the opportunity to begin
to look for land on which to build our community.
It now becomes critical to
expand our membership beyond those who have spend almost a year
getting us to this point. (To see the progress we've made, see "Our
Progress.") We are planning to hold a membership orientation
meeting in late February 2009 that will explain both cohousing
in general and our group's plans.
Background: Launched in February, 2008, the
group holds a business meeting once a month and meets together
for lunch before the meeting. Our intention and hopes are captured
in the Vision Statement we've crafted. The group is interested
in creating an adult cohousing community. Families with children
are welcome, but the needs of the adults in the community are also
an equally high priority.
Individuals interested in considering Westside cohousing and being
involved with us should see our How
to Join page.
What is Cohousing? As the Cohousing Association explains it, "Cohousing
communities balance the traditional advantages of home ownership
with the benefits of shared common facilities and ongoing connections
with your neighbors.
"These cooperative neighborhoods, " it continues,
"are among the most promising solutions to many of today's
most challenging social and environmental concerns."
Another definition
of cohousing describes it as private residences designed to foster
community and cooperation while preserving independence. Perhaps
a couple dozen private residences are clustered near their shared
facilities. And the members design and manage all aspects of their
community.
Rob Sandelin, a resident of Sharingwood Cohousing in Washington
State came up with a list of 10
great reasons to live in cohousing that gets to the heart of
the matter.
If you are interested in
the possibility of creating a cohousing community somewhere
on the Westside, please send us an email and bookmark
this page for updates. You'll be kept informed about how much interest
has been shown, the logical steps that other successful cohousing
developments have followed, and how else we can make our dream
a reality.
If you are interested in possibly joining us, please see the
page about that process.
The links at the left will describe our own community
as it evolves. In the meantime, they link to information primarily
on the Cohousing.org site. Bookmark this page to easily return
here.
If you are interested in learning more about this potential cohousing
community, please email us at
(The above email address is not a link in order to
avoid spamming. Just copy the address in your email program.)
All the best,
The Westside Cohousing Forming Group
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