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Publisher: New Society Publishers
Pub. Date: 2011-02-01
ISBN: 9780865716728
Format: Paperback - 336 pages
Size: 7.5" x 9" (w x h)
BISAC: ARCHITECTURE / Sustainability & Green Design

Creating Cohousing

Building Sustainable Communities

A man's home is his castle. But demographic and economic changes haveturned our castles into islands. How can we regain the elements of the traditional village – family, cooperation, community and a sense of belonging – within the context of 21st century life?

Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities is an in-depth exploration of a uniquely rewarding type of housing which is perfect for anyone who values their independence but longs for more connection with those around them. Written by the award-winning team that wrote the original "cohousing bible" and first brought cohousing to North America, this fully-illustrated manual combines nuts-and-bolts practical considerations and design ideas with extensive case studies of dozens of diverse communities in Europe and North America.

Cohousing communities create unique opportunities for designing more sustainable lifestyles. Whether urban, suburban or rural; senior or intergenerational; retrofit or new, the authors show how the physical structures of cohousing communities lend themselves to a more efficient use of resources, and make everything from gardening to childcare to socializing easier.

Creating Cohousing puts the "neighbor" back into "neighborhood"; and is an essential resource for anyone interested in more environmentally and socially sustainable living.

About the Authors

Charles Durrett is a principal at McCamant & Durrett in Nevada City, CA, a firm that specializes in affordable cohousing. He co-authored the groundbreaking Cohousing A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves with his wife and business partner, Kathryn McCamant. He also authored The Senior Cohousing Handbook: A Community Approach to Independent Living.

Kathryn McCamant, and her husband Charles Durrett, co-authored Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves and founded McCamant & Durrett Architects and The CoHousing Company. They coined the term "cohousing" for which they are credited in the Oxford English Dictionary. Kathryn founded Cohousing Partners in 2006 with developer Jim Leach.

Together they have designed and developed over 50 cohousing communities.


"This book, by the founders of the cohousing movement in the United States, is a must read for anybody who wants or needs to know about cohousing. It serves those who want to learn about living in one, creating one, or just better understand how cohousing is driving positive change in the broader culture."
Craig Ragland, Executive Director, Cohousing Association of the United States

"In Creating Cohousing Kathryn McCamant and Chuck Durrett have done much more than bring the cohousing story up to date with the latest reports from both pioneer new communities. They have added valuable chapters on state of the art and best practices unique to cohousing design, development, and community building, and they have defined cohousing's influence and role in the current cultural transition toward a more sustainable lifestyle."
Jim Leach, President, Wonderland Hill Development Company


Think Like a Commoner

A Short Introduction to the Life of the Commons

by David Bollier


The Senior Cohousing Handbook-2nd Edition

A Community Approach to Independent Living

by Charles Durrett


Culture Gap

Towards a New World in the Yalakom Valley

by Judith Plant


Better

The Everyday Art of Sustainable Living

by Nicole Caldwell


Thinking Like a Mountain

Towards a Council of All Beings

by John Seed, Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming and Arne Naess