Songaia Cohousing Community :: Communities Directory

Formed: 1987 Established: 1990

Songaia Cohousing Community

Bothell, Washington,

United States

Songaia is a suburban cohousing community near Seattle - because of press coverage and community/cohousing activism, Songaia is known and visited by many.

We steward 11 acres of forested hillside, organic gardens, orchards, and meadow. Our 15 clustered homes include studio rentals, and member-owned 1-3 bedroom duplex units, around a green common.

Songaia: "Song of the Living Earth" shares our love of singing and celebration, as well as our connection to the earth.

Our shared community life is active: ~90% of us gather for 5+ shared meals per week; we sing; work together; celebrate; share in circles; learn and vision in study groups; form task forces; and enjoy many celebrations. These many connections grow strong webs of friendship and supportive neighbors. Ours is a safe, supportive environment where children, elders, and families of all types live - with attention and intention.

Songaia is stable, with just two (divorce-driven) re-sales since we grew from 2 cooperative households to Cohousing in 2000.

Members and Associates (which include some non-residents) share use of extensive common facilities and land. Our common house has a dining/meeting room, kitchen, pantry, laundry, kids room, living room, office, and 2 guest rooms. Our barn has a greenhouse, food pantries, shop, ceramics room, and storage.

We are close enough to Seattle to access good jobs, schools, and culture.

Most of us engage with other communities - neighborhood meetings, community events and networking. Songaia hosts a Rites of Passage program, affecting the lives of many. Some Songaia members provide leadership in the Community Movement, helping co-lead the FIC, the Cohousing Association (Coho/US), and the NW Intentional Communities Assoc.

The dream of Songaia continues to unfold as we form deep connection with some of our neighbors and work with New Earth Song Cohousing (see separate listing) to co-create an emerging "eco-neighborhood."

To support this vision, 5 Songaia families recently bought an adjoining 1/2 acre w/home (now shared by Associates). New Earth Song is developing this property into a new node of community housing - Phase 1. Might Phase 2 include you?

To learn more, consider reading "Songaia, an Unfolding Dream" - will be published in 2009. This book provides a close look at Songaia, its formation, life together, and a vision for the future. Authored by one member, it is also collaborative, with stories sharing points of view by others who love Songaia - as our home.

Website: http://www.songaia.com/

Contact:

Songaia Cohousing Community
22401 39th Ave SE
Bothell, Washington 98021 United States

Carol Crow
Phone: 425-486-5164

Links:

New Earth Song Cohousing: the Forming Community next door - learn about the group and project to create a new community housing on adjoining property.

Community location is placed at the center of the zip/postal code, city/state, or city/country (not based on street addresses)

Former/Other Names: Songaia Cooperative, Songaia Cohousing, Songaia Community

Last Updated:7/21/2009

Visitors Accepted

(We welcome visitors, who sometimes join us in creating and enjoying wonderful things...)

Visitor Process: Songaia is exploring expansion with new rentals and homes for sale. While we have no units available now, we may have rental and purchase space available later. We invite people who might be interested in living at Songaia to visit our website and add themselves to the Songaia Announcements mailing list. If you are interested in visiting our community, please send us an email to arrange a host for a visit.

Affiliations: New Earth Song Cohousing LLC

Network Affiliations:

Fellowship for Intentional Community

:: Northwest Intentional Communities Association

:: Coho/US

Statement of Housing Non-discrimination:

Our community does not discriminate in regards to housing based on race/color, national origin, religion, sex/gender, family status (i.e. having children, not having children, or being pregnant), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, ancestry, source of income, age, creed, personal appearance, political affiliation, HIV infection, military/veteran status, unfavorable military discharge, gender identity or expression, receiving public assistance, or being the victim of domestic abuse.

Population Members(adults and children): 41 Non-member Residents: 6 (Actually, they are Associate Members) Open to new members: Yes (as space become available for sale or rent)	Government Decision Making: By consensus (MANY decisions are made by individuals without formal process. Larger, community-wide decisions use a decision-board or facilitated group sessions.) Identified Leader: No (The Songaia Board of Directors consists of the entire membership) Leadership Core Group: Yes (People rotate on and off a small group, called the Navigators, which orchestrates meetings, plans the budget, etc.)	Labor and Money Financial Style: Members have independent finances (no income-sharing, but lots of cost-sharing) Open to Members with Pre-existing Debt: Yes (member finances remain private) Labor Contribution: Expected (variable amounts of hours/month - most labor is loosely organized using the "Passion Principle". Exceptions are for our Food Program and Common House cleaning) Join Fee: No (to join, you must purchase or rent a home) Regular Fees: Yes (monthly assessments for operating budget, capital reserves, insurance, shared food, etc.)
Land and Buildings Suburban (since 1987, we've seen our area transition from rural to suburbs - there is heavy growth around us) Area: 10.6 acres (4.3 hectares) (homes are clustered on about 2.5 areas, leaving lots of open space) Land Owned By: Individual community member(s) (legally, we're a condominium, so we own our units and members are part of a home-owner's association which owns/manages the land and common facilities) Number of Residences: 13 (owned units, each part of a duplex. Two units also have mother-in-law rentals, residents of two homes on adjoining property also participate) Cohousing: Yes (compared to many cohousing groups, we're pretty intentional - with an active, shared life and strong sense-of-community.)	Food, etc. Percentage of Food Grown: 6-20% (lower % of calories, higher % of $value/tastiness - we focus on highly valued crops, such as tomatoes, peas, basil, and green beans) Share Community Meals: 2-5 times/week (Mon - Thu dinner and Sat breakfast for many years) Dietary Choice or Restrictions: Diet is up to each individual (our norm is for common meals to meet individual dietary needs and we purchase many specialty food items to accomodate) Dietary Practice: Other (its quite diverse, we have a wide variety of dietary practices, including omnivores, vegetarians, high protein, low carb, non-dairy, non-wheat, non-glutten, etc.) Alcohol Use: Used occasionally (most alcohol use is in private homes. Beer/wine is sometimes served for special events.) Tobacco Use: Prohibited (tobacco is prohibited in all common areas - today, none of the residents smoke.)	Social Factors Common Spiritual Practices: Yes (we have a shared spirit life, but its eclectic and non-dogmatic - attempting to be inclusive of all individual spirit paths) Which Spiritual Traditions(s): Native American :: Buddhist :: Paganism/Earth Religions :: Quaker :: Roman Catholic :: Sufi :: Jewish :: Unitarian Universalist :: Ecumenical (includes "all religions") :: Eclectic (integrates pieces from many religions) :: Other (Spiritual Humanism, Agnosticism, Aetheism, Private Journeys) Educational Style(s): Home schooling :: Private school off the property :: Public schooled (some parents use private school-supported Home Schooling)

Cohousing Details

Cohousing Status:

Completed

Year Completed:

2000

(Some of us have lived on the land since 1987)

Number of Units:

13 (w/studio apts in two larger units)

Developer:

Self-developed

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Become an Editor Current editor(s): cohousing, craigragland

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Comment from BrightMorningStar on 7/6/2007 (Reader Rating: 6)

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As a longtime friend of Songaia I have to say what an inspiration its very existence has been to me. The community expresses so many of the earth-centered values that I share; I hope that its neighbors will join in its activities and thus better their own lives.
Cheerio! Jonathan

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