"I know I live in a community because on a Friday night it takes me forty-five minutes and two beers to get from the parking lot to my front door." - Cohousing Resident

Cohousing is alive and well here in Seattle and as home prices rise so to does the number of people looking for affordable alternatives to single family neighborhoods. Over the years Seattle has seen the emergence of Puget Ridge Cohousing and Duwamish Cohousing in West Seattle, Jackson Place near downtown and Songaia and Sharingwood Cohousing near Woodinville. In this state alone there are approximately 28 cohousing communities either existing or in formation listed with the NW Intentional Communities Association.

Puget Ridge Cohousing

The modern theory of cohousing originated in Denmark in the 1960s among groups of families who were dissatisfied with existing housing and communities that they felt did not meet their needs. Hundreds of cohousing communities exist in Denmark and other countries in northern Europe.

Because each cohousing community is planned in its context, a key feature of this model is its flexibility to the needs and values of its residents and the characteristics of the site. Cohousing can be urban, suburban or rural. The physical form is typically compact but varies from low-rise apartments to townhouses to clustered detached houses. They tend to keep cars to the periphery which promotes walking through the community and interacting with neighbors as well as increasing safety for children at play within the community. Shared green space is another characteristic, whether for gardening, play, or places to gather. When more land is available than is needed for the physical structures, the structures are usually clustered closely together, leaving as much of the land as possible "open" for shared use. This aspect of cohousing directly addresses the growing problem of suburban sprawl.

Common code restrictions on cohousing communities in the United States include; zoning restrictions on height and bulk limiting increased density that allows for reclaiming space for common use, private space requirements that are counterintuitive to community living, limits to achieving natural shared landscaping, requirements for full street improvements that potentially destroy preserved wetlands, discouraging clustered parking.

In Seattle finding the right space is the ultimate challenge for new cohousing projects. Just about anything zoned mutifamily, whether it's a vacant lot or an existing apartment building, is being scooped up by developers for townhomes or condo conversions. While this increases infill development and provides new incity housing it also creates an opportunistic market. If you've got an ailing home or apartment building in a multifamily zone developers will literally send you signed purchase & sale agreements offering above market prices. How can a cohousing group compete with that?

All of the cohousing currently in and around Seattle has been built from the ground up. Many of the sites were found in areas where land was still affordable or the number of allowable units was high enough to make it feasible. But what if you want to live in Ballard or Fremont, Queen Anne or Capital Hill? Become familar with the multifamily zones, canvas the neighborhoods, have flexible location and size requirements and be very patient!

In Seattle, Cohousing Resources, provides assistance in all aspects of cohousing development. Owner Chris ScottHanson is President and CEO of Construction & Development Services Inc and Permit Coordinator for the City of Seattle Department of Construction and Land Use. Chris's cohousing experience began in 1989 with the founding of and land acquisition for the Winslow Cohousing project on Bainbridge Island. Co-owner Kelly ScottHanson was a developing member of Trillium Hollow in Portland, OR, completed in June of 1998. Together they also authored The Cohousing Handbook: Building a Place for Community, the hands-on guide to building cohousing.

If you are in the planning stages of your cohousing project we would love to hear more about your experiences in the comments section below!