Keeping the Dream Alive…

No, not this dream (although I do long for that dream as well), but this one.  It’s been a year since I started thinking about cohousing more seriously, and while the recent real estate crash has put a damper on my enthusiasm, the itch is still there.  So I’m excited that the first National Cohousing Conference is coming to Seattle this summer, and it makes sense since Seattle is a hotbed for cohousing activity nationwide.  To top it all off, the conference is being held at UW in the HUB, my old stomping ground when I was just an aimless, slacking undergrad.  If anyone else would like to go, then let me know- I’m hoping to register for at least part of the conference, and some of the workshops will be free.

Honestly, I’d say that the chances of a small scale urban cohousing project actually coming together in my neighborhood over the next few years are pretty slim, but I’m going to keep posting about it anyway if for no other reason than to keep reminding myself of the possibility.  Regardless, even if nothing ever materializes, the alternative of staying put in Rainier Vista for the long haul isn’t a bad option at all.  After over two years (and enduring a lot of ongoing construction), we still love the vision of the neighborhood, the tangible sense of community, and the proximity of our neighbors.  Living in an SHA redevelopment project isn’t perfect, but it’s home.

Living as close as we do (from 50 ft to a few blocks) to a number of good friends, some people have asked me how different cohousing would be from the community we already enjoy, and I think that’s a good question.  And while I’m not sure the investment would be “worth it” in the end, it’s difficult to measure or predict the ways that an intentionally designed, increased proximity could affect the long term depth and sustainability of a community.

At the end of the day, I think the fatal flaw in my thinking is that I’m inclined to be more infatuated with the idea of cohousing than what the actual commitment may require- an unfortunate implication of my borderline pseudo-activist idealism.  Such is the reality of trying to solve the upwardly mobile urban housing problem on my own.  Besides, I don’t think many people share in my opinion that this particular trend– the growing cost of housing (financial and societal)– is even a problem at all.

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