gimnig's blog

Getting from "Gotta Have" to "Community First"

Submitted by gimnig on

Karen Gimnig

Cohousing community members begin with some basic assumptions. We expect to do some downsizing. We know we will be sharing space and will need to make some comprises about how we use that space. We plan to reduce our impact on the planet and increase our social connections. These tend to be shared assumptions and overall, all these things happen in every cohousing community.

Less-Obvious Reasons to Hire Professionals

Submitted by gimnig on

Coho US Staff

Consultant

There are a lot of good reasons to hire professional help in cohousing. From areas of focused study like architecture and relationship skills, to the wisdom gained through experience working with many cohousing communities, there is much knowledge a consultant can share that would come at a much higher cost through trial and error. It is this knowledge most communities consider when they are thinking of hiring, but there is a whole other set of reasons to hire an outside professional that communities are wise to take into account.

Generating Necessity

Submitted by gimnig on

Karen Gimnig

This morning a friend brought my son home from a birthday party. Her sons had also attended the party and our house was on their way home, so bringing them all home together significantly reduced the carbon emissions. In other words, it was a good move for sustainability which we all value. But that isn’t why it happened. It happened because I didn’t have a car today. Sustainability born of necessity.

Consensus Rules

Submitted by gimnig on

Karen Gimnig

Consensus Rules

Most of us join a cohousing community with little experience of consensus. We find the ideas of shared decision-making quite appealing, but we don’t really know how to do it. So we read books and blogs and attend conferences and workshops and we try to find our way. Somewhere along the line most groups write down some cohousing rules. They may call them bylaws or community agreements or some other name. At their core consensus rules tend to be best practices, things we agree to do together because we believe they will make our consensus process work for us.

Can I Blog Here?

Submitted by gimnig on

Coho US Staff

Yes! Well, probably. We welcome blog text from cohousers, those forming communities and cohousing professionals. We are a clearinghouse for all things cohousing and we want to offer as many perspectives and as broad a viewpoint as possible.

You may have noticed that the majority of our blogs are written by CohoUS staff. This is not by choice. We’d much prefer to have all of you submitting success stories, challenges overcome, and lessons learned to share with each other. Even better if you send photos to go with them!

Why I Love to Take Out the Trash

Submitted by gimnig on

Karen Gimnig

As it happens, the community dumpster is on the far end of the community from my unit, so taking out the trash takes more time than it did back when I had my own curbside pickup. Funny thing is that despite it taking much longer (sometimes an hour or two!), it’s become my favorite chore. I could try to explain my reasons, but I think instead I’ll just tell you the stories.

Unite Cohousers!

Submitted by gimnig on

Micah Allen

It is time, my cohousing compadres, to plan for total global domination.

We shall train an army of children to storm the streets on tricycles, tear up pavement and leave greenspace in their wake. We’ll crush the fearful isolated suburbanites with a brutal onslaughts of holiday cookies, smiling neighbors, and spontaneous music jam sessions. Entire sprawling neighborhoods will get buried under tiny-home urban infill, lush organic gardens, and cooperative agreements. We will subvert the corporate HOAs and zoning boards with conversation and consensus.

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