April 2012

An Architecture Student Wrestles with Christopher Alexander

by cohousingworks 28 April 2012

I know many of you cohousers out there are ardent Christopher Alexander fans.  In my visits to 20-something cohousing communities, at least a quarter mentioned his name or one of his design principles in talking about how their community or common house was designed.  For anyone looking for a quite academic and lofty (one might [...]

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Segregating the Truly Sick in Retirement Communities?

by cohousingworks 25 April 2012

Here is a link to a really disturbing article on a retirement community in Norfolk Virginia that has banned the truly sick/elderly (anyone in “assisted living” in their community) from their upscale dining room, The River Terrace.  Apparently this is a trend that is somewhat common around the US in the new retirement villages that [...]

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Do Your Meetings S T I N K ? Bring Life to Meetings, Teamwork, Facilitation

by Ann Zabaldo 23 April 2012

Why is it that some meetings and group sessions bring life to your soul, while others leave you wishing you’d never stepped in the room?  What happens at the best ones, that makes them productive, fulfilling, and sometimes even magic?  More than 50 facilitators and others worked collaboratively to birth this expression of core wisdom [...]

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“Cohousing” Gets a Bit More Mainstream… And a Lot More Expensive

by cohousingworks 22 April 2012

A recent article in the Guardian touts  Mountain View Cohousing Community as “an opportunity for a sustainable future”.  The community is located in Mountain View, California, near the home of Google.  Community members have been involved since the beginning, and the project is being built by Berry-Swenson-Builder with conceptual design work done by cohousing leaders, [...]

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Happy Birthday to YOU! It’s Earth Day!

by Ann Zabaldo 20 April 2012

To all my fellow bi-pedal carbon-based life forms … inhabitants of this planet all … Happy Birthday! It’s Earth Day this Sunday, April 22nd.  Gladly or sadly as the case may be, I’m old enough to remember the very first Earth Day celebrated nationally in the U.S.A.    It was waaaaaay back in … well … [...]

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“Age Appropriate Companions” – A Social Support Network for Seniors

by cohousingworks 18 April 2012

I’ve heard of community service around senior citizens, and providing company to nursing home patients or services to frail seniors living on their own.  This except, however. is from a NYTimes article in the health section on “age appropriate” senior companions, just one of the many ways seniors and baby boomers are finding to continue [...]

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