Charles' Trip to Washington, D.C.

Participatory Design in Affordable (Subsidized) Cohousing

My Oct 17–18, 2022 meetings with five congress people and their staff, navigating how HUD subsidies could be used for cohousing projects, homeless projects, and other low-income projects, went very well, but they were just the first step.

The Problem: Currently it is difficult to work with the future residents when working on projects that use public funds. The current writing of Title 6 & Title 24 of the HUD guidelines discourage it.

The Solution: I met with the staff of five congress people in Washington, D.C. to encourage them to encourage participation. It facilitates community and therefore accountability and personal growth when they live in a high-functioning cooperative-by-nature neighborhood.

I met with the staff of Mark Amodei NV (R)/John Quinn, Adam Schiff CA (D)/Jamie (Legislative Assistant), Ami Bera CA (D)/Emma Bruce, Jennifer Wexton VA (D)/Chris Gibson, and Jim Costa CA (D)/Kit Devine.

While they were all very supportive of revising Title 6 and Title 24 of the HUD guidelines, they were also all hesitant to take up the gauntlet without more congressional support with their fellow congress people on board or at least a bigger coalition. While cooperatively designed subsidized housing is very common in countries like Denmark (it saves the government a lot of money to have projects be self-managed), it is not known in the US.

This is why I am asking you to write a letter to your congress people to show your support on this issue.

Once there are obviously a few dozen or so congress members that support this language and these revisions, I will encourage one of them to sponsor the revisions, then others to co-sponsor a bill to support high-functioning affordable neighborhoods that depend on the feedback of future residents to be the supportive (cohousing and the like) neighborhoods that are necessary to facilitate a viable society, but might require some subsidies to make them work. This will be a process, but the time to begin is now.

Find Our Sample Letter for Your Congress Person HERE

Please modify this draft letter, make it your own, and send one to your congress person (if by email please bcc me) by Nov 15. Now we must go with the momentum and support community at the congressional level. Please write your congress people as fast as you can, refer to my personal meetings with the staff if you desire. The following is the weight of influence and ratings of the effectiveness of the different types of communications to the congress people:

1. Have a personal visit as I did

2. Send a handwritten letter delivered by USPS

3. Send a typed letter delivered by USPS

4. Give them a call on the phone

5. Send an Email

Please let me know who you have connected.

Please see these five explicit revisions that I am proposing to Title 6 & 24 HERE that will allow for better participation in the future.

For full story of what I’m trying to accomplish these days, please consider picking up:

Cohousing Communities: Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods

For this holiday season, give a gift of cohousing to your loved ones by ordering the book through our website. For a limited time only, we offer signed copies and customized message when you order Cohousing Communities from our website.

The Benefits of High-Functioning Neighborhood

Model Project: Auburn Cohousing

Living in a real high-functioning neighborhood invokes a sense of belonging, a sense of accountability, and a sense of ownership—"this is my neighborhood and I will help by reacting to concerns, everything from litter to projects that can be done with others."

County officials reaching out to an aspiring cohousing effort is new to America, but very common in Denmark. It seems obvious that the county could play a significant role in positive neighborhood-making and they can.

With that said, it is our honor that Placer County reached out to us, The Cohousing Company, and decided to include a cohousing community project in the masterplan of Placer County Government Center Dewitt site. 

While too many children, families, and seniors are cast adrift in the conventional auto-oriented housing solutions, cohousing communities provide opportunities for people to connect with each other, care fore each other, and together live a healthier and more sustainable lives.

Auburn Cohousing Group Monthly Meeting and Potluck

In working with The Cohousing Company, a group of seniors, families and individuals began organizing in late 2021 to actively participate in the creation of a cohousing development on the County’s 4.6-acre site within the 200-acre Placer County Government Center planned community.

Since the creation of the Group, members have met 2-4 times per week, typically at the downtown Auburn Chamber of Commerce office, to focus on critical topics and needs to develop a successful cohousing development. The most critical topic has been raising funds for the Group by recruiting new group equity member, development investors, and others who have contributed time and funds to overall efforts.

The group is now moving forward with great momentum, and we are more than excited to see this project gaining the traction it deserves. 

If you are or know anyone who lives in or near Placer County, CA, please let them know about this lovely new forming cohousing community. They are looking for people who might be interested in joining their adventure of creating a high-functioning neighborhood.

If you would like to know more about the project, the group is hosting a FREE Introductory Presentation about cohousing on October 20th @ 6:30 PM

at Unity Church of Auburn, 1212 High St., Auburn.

Email information@auburncohousing.com to sign up or visit auburncohousing.com for more information

The Importance of Participatory Design in Cohousing

An Anthropological Act of Designing a High-Functioning Village

No matter what other people tell you—be it developers, architects, development consultants, marketers, or project managers—the group participation in design is the number one indicator of success in cohousing community. It is the only way that you can design to best represent the culture of the group—and not just who they are now, but also who they want to be.

Here's an excerpt from various chapters of our latest book Cohousing Communities: Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods which talks about the importance of participatory design in cohousing communities:

Chapter 5

intergenerational Neighborhood Design

Private Houses Design

A house is a part of our psyche, our self-image, our day-to-day comfort—our happiness ... If basic cohousing math holds true, which it usually does, 1+1 = 3. That is, when we sit down with a group of say, six households (around ten people in total) with the intention of creating the exact same awesome dwelling, the house has the benefit of numerous creative people serving up ideas that, when facilitated well, are synthesized to realize the best of the ideas of everyone at the table.. the real magic happens when I sit down with the ten people who are all interested in the same thing—a great house.

Chapter 9

Senior Neighborhood Design

Common Houses Design

Never am I more excited about community-enhanced design than when I watch 40 seniors spend two full days to decide which common amenities outside of their houses and shared with the entire neighborhood, will make their personal lives more practical, more social, more healthy, more convenient, more supportive, more economical, more interesting, and more fun. “It’s just a building!” No, it’s a reflection of who we are—it’s a reflection of our culture, and it’s a reflection of who we want to become.

The Cohousing Company & Charles Durrett: Repurposed

Shifting Modus Operandi

I thought about retiring at the start of pandemic, but somehow, I found myself continuing to work on a dozen cohousing communities and other projects since then. I’m convinced now that what I meant and still want to do is to repurpose, not retire.

Instead of doing the full working drawings and the full construction administration for new cohousing communities, I found that the experience we have makes it easy to do new cohousing communities expeditiously and affordably if we just do design criteria and schematic design with the group.

We just finished a Design Criteria and Schematic Design for a new community in 6 weeks, when they had been working on that project for 8 years. We have also designed a new school and a new community for the Chickahominy tribe in Virginia in 6 weeks and a new homeless project in just a couple of weeks.

When Frank Lloyd Wright was interviewed by Michael Wallace about why he didn’t retire at the age of 87, FLW replied “now when I shake my arm, building designs just cascade from my sleeves.” Of course, many cartoons of that ensued. I am not saying that I am Frank Lloyd Wright, but I have learned that after 55 projects, that experience means a lot—at least many lessons have been learned, especially how to make a community work optimally, how to do it most affordably, and without delay

(see Chapter 13 & 14 of Cohousing Communities: Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods)

Cohousing Communities

Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods

We are more than excited to announce that the new definitive book, Cohousing Communities: Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods,  is now available for preorder through Wiley and Amazon for only $39.95.

The book will also be available to purchase for the first time at the Cohousing Conference in Madison, WI author's showcase, where Charles will be presenting and hosting a book-signing as well.

Perfect for everyone—from architects and housing advocates to young families and senior citizens—who strive to see new ways to create neighborhoods, Cohousing Communities: Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods compiles facts and concepts that are essential to the design of a high-functioning community, where people can participate in a way that reflects their values, improves their social connections, and retain their autonomy and privacy.

Here are some excerpts from the book:

People-Hours per week

How is this calculated? People often say, “it must be difficult.” In fact, it can be extremely fun and it’s critical for improving discussions and designs over time. Nevada City receives about 450 people-hours per week and Trudeslund gets about 750. And these metrics are key to post-occupancy evaluation—“Does it work or does it not work?” should be an objectively answerable question.

Zoning/Racism/Affordability

Since zoning practices began in the U.S in 1916, they have been used to keep classes and races separate (see Chapter 7), and redlining continued to reinforce that in the 1930s. Cohousing can uniquely challenge these racist legacies more effectively than other means, because it brings the people to the planning table.

Cohousing Certification

There are communities that inadvertently call themselves cohousing that are in fact very cohousing inspired, cohousing-like, and are lovely places for sure, but are not cohousing. I firmly believe cohousing needs to be certified for its continuing success, just as organic farming needed certification before it really took off in the US.

Testimonials from reviewers

In Latin they call it a “Magnus Opus.” In Danish we call this a “A Work of Consequence that is Long Overdue."

This book does not just list model projects, Chuck also lays out the process, the details, the intent, and the product and everything necessary to accomplish a high-functioning neighborhood—every thing necessary to make a quality community.

Hans Rasmusen, Denmark