What is cohousing?
Cohousing is both a place and a concept. The concept is to provide a close-nit neighborhood, or a small village, where it is easy to make and maintain connections with neighbors. Touchstone has been specifically designed to allow these connections and relationships to flourish. Cohousing features private ownership of individual units coupled with common space, amenities, and community living.
Participatory Process: Residents actively participated in the planning, design, and development of their community and most recently -- the redesign of the Common House. The design and layout of the buildings, open space and common space is specifically intended to foster a sense of community.
How is the community managed?
Residents are in total control of daily management of the community.
What about privacy?
Neighborhood design seeks to
achieve a balance between personal privacy and community interaction.
In addition, the social mores of the group include respect for
individual needs for time alone.
How does cohousing differ from other kinds of collaborative living arrangements, such as intentional communities?
Cohousing could be described as “intentional neighborhood.” By contrast, “intentional community” frequently connotes a shared religious, political, environmental or social ideology rather than simply the desire to have a strong sense of community with your neighbors. Cohousing residents privately own their homes and do not pool their incomes.
How is home ownership legally structured in Touchstone?
We are a condominium association with each homeowner owning his or her own condo home. The association owns the common land and buildings.
Is cohousing based on a specific ideology, shared values or religious or spiritual beliefs?
Our members represent many diverse beliefs. There are no shared community-based ideologies or spiritual and political beliefs.
How do I get started to join a community? Is there a screening process?
We encourage people who are interested to come to an information meeting. (See "Contact Us.") We hold four or five meetings per month. We invite you to come to a common meal, a social event and a business meeting. We want you to be informed about Touchstone, how we live and the prior decisions we have made for community life.
We have no screening process. The main element to joining is a willingness to commit to being a member of the community. This commitment precedes the purchase of a home. It is the shared commitment to the community that keeps it vibrant and alive.
How much do the homes cost?
Touchstone has a variety of floor plans. The smallest home is 500 square feet, and the largest is 1,800. Our one- and two-bedroom units feature either a walk-up attic with dormers or a basement. All of the three bedroom units have basements.
The purchase prices for units still available range from about $170,000 to $340,000.
What if a member wants to move out of the community and sell his or her home?
The process is simple. You can try to sell your unit on your own (most cohousers do so successfully) or hire a realtor. Because of life changes and other reasons, some moves do occur, but we've found that is happens much less frequently than in other condo developments.
The seller and the rest of the community will benefit
if everyone lends a hand in finding new owners. When it comes to
resales, experience has shown that homes in cohousing have appreciated
faster than the market as a whole.
What about rentals?
Touchstone currently offers units on a rental basis. We anticipate that there will always be a few rental units which are owned by members who intend to move in later or who are away for a period of time. In some communities, individual households rent out their “in-law” apartments or finished basement apartments. Most residents agree that rental units are a positive addition to a community.
Tell me about common meals.
Common meals are optional. They are offered several
times per week. We anticipate that the frequency will be about 4-5
times per week once all the units have been built. The cooking team
posts a menu, and people sign up if they want to come. The cost of a meal ($3 - $5) is shared by those who come for the meal.
How are commonly-owned facilities, landscaping or gardens cared for?
Usually, we work together on common property care and maintenance.
How much participation is required?
Currently we are asking each adult to work a few hours work each month -- which may include cooking or other community tasks, committee work or projects.
What about safety and security?
Touchstone is a safe and secure place to live because we all know each other and watch our for one another. Since garages
and parking are on the perimeter, walking, toddling, bike riding for
"little ones" is very safe. Everyone knows everyone, and when strangers come on site they are generally met by a friendly, but inquisitive Touchstone resident.
Cohousing parents typically say that their neighborhoods feel extremely safe for raising children. For example, if a child falls off a swing when out of his or her parent’s immediate sight, another adult will surely assist the child. Additionally, everyone helps protect and maintain the property for a resident traveling out of town.
What if I don’t like someone in the group?
It isn’t essential for everyone in a cohousing community to like every neighbor. In fact, a variety of personalities will add interest to neighborhood life. Cohousing residents need only share the goal of making their lives more enjoyable by cooperating with their neighbors.
How are disputes about issues like pets, noise, and property upkeep handled?
One of cohousing’s great strengths is the assumption that members can work out their conflicts. Mostly we use consensus decision-making process, which tends to satisfy most residents and give us a sense of participation on challenging issues. We can, if need be, convene our conflict resolution team when a particularly hot issue arises.
The six defining characteristics of cohousing are:
1. Participatory process. A well-designed, pedestrian-oriented community without significant resident participation in the planning and decision-making may be "cohousing-inspired," but it is not a cohousing community.
2. Neighborhood design. The physical layout and orientation of the buildings (the site plan) encourage a sense of neighborhood. For example, the private residences are clustered on the site, leaving more shared open space. The dwellings face each other across a pedestrian street or courtyard, with cars parked on the periphery. What far outweighs any specifics, however, is the intention to create a strong sense of community.
3. Common facilities. Common facilities are designed for daily use, are an integral part of the community, and are always supplemental to the private residences. The common house will include a common kitchen, dining area, sitting area, children's playroom and laundry, and there will also be a separate workshop and a guest room. Playground equipment, lawns, and gardens are also on site. Since the buildings are clustered, we have retained several acres of undeveloped shared open space.
4. Resident management. Residents manage their own cohousing communities and also perform much of the work required to maintain the property. They participate in the preparation of common meals and meet regularly to solve problems and develop policies for the community.
5. Non-hierarchical structure and decision-making. Leadership roles naturally exist in cohousing communities, however no one person or persons have authority over others. As people join the group, each takes on one or more roles consistent with his or her skills, abilities or interests. Most cohousing groups make all of their decisions by consensus. Although many groups have a policy for voting if the group cannot reach consensus after a number of attempts, it is rarely necessary to resort to voting.
6. No shared community economy. The community is not a
source of income for its members. Occasionally, a cohousing community
will pay one of its residents to do a specific (usually time-limited)
task, but more often the work will be considered a member's
contribution to the shared responsibilities.
