| We are a small cohousing/shared-house cooperative on an acre near the San Francisco Bay and Silicon Valley. We live in four houses and a trailer, surrounded by edible landscaping, flowers, and a vegetable garden. While we have a middle-class life, our ecological conviction is reflected in the attempt to minimize resource-use per person.
We currently have 14 active participants in the "community minded" group, varying in age from three to 60s: scientists, teachers, ecologist, social worker, massage therapist, computer programmers, chef, and toy collector.
Most of us in the two shared houses buy our food together, then cook independent meals, except for the weekly community dinner and meeting, which all residents attend. We expect that each person will run his or her own life, while we come together for mutual support.
Everyone does a chore a week for the community as a whole, and another for one of the households. Beyond this, the primary commitment made by people who live here is agreeing to bring up and work out any tensions or problems as they occur—an ongoing communication challenge for all of us!
When we do have an opening, applicants are invited to view our place, then come for a more complete discussion of mutual desires and expectations. The decision to invite someone to move in is made by the existing residents, using our usual consensus process. | Community location is placed at the center of the zip/postal code, city/state, or city/country (not based on street addresses) |
