Boomers in Cohousing Interview in Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The Seattle P-I Reader’s Blog has a great interview with Cohousing Association Executive Director Craig Ragland on the topic of what cohousing has to offer baby boomers.

Craig gives the following benefits that cohousing offers:

It brings more meaning to my life. I share leadership of this community with 25 other adults, and we learn from each other and our 12 children constantly.

It’s fun. I’m not a big party person, but I get to enjoy parties here all the time.

It conserves resources and preserves natural spaces… here, I live in a modest-sized home on 11 acres of property. My home is about 1,100 square feet, but I share a common house (about 4,000 square feet), a barn (about 6,000 square feet), a few other outbuildings, a huge organic garden, an orchard, a forest, and a meadow. We share five meals per week in our common house, which means neither my wife nor I spend our time cooking or cleaning as much as we did before moving into cohousing. Our homes are all clustered on about two acres of those 11 acres… this means that there is lots of open, green space — you know, the part of the earth that produces oxygen and allows non-human life…to thrive.

Ragland says that boomers are looking for some specific features in their cohousing communities: WiFi, efficient systems including good process, and an adult- and child- firendly environment.

The article does touch on senior cohousing as well.

Read the article about cohousing for boomers