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It's still only in the rumor phase but the Evening Sun from Hanover, PA is reporting that the Barack Obama campaign may be planning a stop at Hundredfold Farm a rural cohousing community in south-central Pennsylvania.
However, one reason for his optimism about a potential Obama appearance is the campaign's interest in the Hundredfold Farm, a co-housing community west of Cashtown that places an emphasis on environmental friendliness.
"All of the information about that farm has been requested by the Obama campaign," said Roger Lund (Chairman of the Adams County Democratic Committee). "They're looking at that very carefully as a place."
This probably isn't the first time a presidential hopeful has stopped at an intentional community but its exciting to think of having a president who knows first hand about cohousing and community. Not to mention the publicity for the movement.
Manzanita Village Cohousing Community received a grant from the Arizona State Land Department to help expand its permaculture urban forest on its site in Prescott Arizona.
The community will be holding a workshop in April to install water catchment systems for their common house which will irrigate the urban forest.
The community's 12.5 acre site has Alligator Juniper, Utah Juniper, Pinion Pine and Scrub Live Oak on its steep slopes and the water catchment system will benefit these and and other species to be interplanted.
The Wild Goose Bed and Breakfast got some publicity for ecovillages on the Ithaca, NY local news. The bed and breakfast is located in the Ecovillage at Ithaca community just outside of town and draws customers interested in a green lifestyle.
"I don't have to turn on the heat once the sun's shining in 'till late in the afternoon even on a bitter day like today," said Gail Carson, the owner. Thick walls and south-facing windows help make heating homes at EcoVillage more efficient than most houses.
Her business has doubled in the last year, while energy consumption at the inn continues to be minimal. Carson said one of the reasons she thinks her business has increased over the years is because people are simply curious about eco-villages.
Interest in these types of neighborhoods is growing as more people look to build stronger communities, cope with increasing economic pressures, and live with others who share their concerns about the environment.
"Many cohousing communities with land come to see themselves as actively preserving natural spaces and become stewards," said Craig Ragland, executive director of the Cohousing Association.
That sharing component is where the financial savings comes into play. Instead of buying 15 snow blowers or lawnmowers, they only need one or two. The same goes for building a fitness room, guest rooms, and play spaces. Some families, like two in Jamaica Plain Cohousing, have gone as far as sharing a second car.
ABC News in DC did a short video spot on Catoctin Creek Village out in Loudon County, VA and compared the rural cohousing community to both a 60s commune and a golf community. Not the most flattering or accurate description of community but I guess there is no such thing as bad publicity.
The commune is a flash from the past where people lived together and shared almost everything. "We don't share incomes. We don't share partners. It's just like any other subdivision but with a slight twist," said Oliveau.
The twist is much like a golf community, but without the golf. The concept is known as co-housing.
The concept of co-housing did evolve from the communes of the 70's, but people at Catoctin Creek say they are less like flower children and more like farm family.
Ragland gives the basics of cohousing touching on its appeal to the mainstream and its ecological possibilities:
Part of what makes cohousing attractive is that it specifically attempts to create a model that is close enough to the mainstream. It can be financed by conventional bank financing, and frequently uses production housing to help control costs. It's a part of the broader, intentional communities movement, or can be seen as part of that. But it's close enough to the mainstream that it can actually happen more readily, and that appeals to a large number of Americans.
Your Health Connection has created a series of three videos on cohousing and how it can help enhance people's health. The site generaly focuses on health care and and medical issues but did a special report on cohousing as a healthier lifestyle.
Videos include interviews with folks from Frog Song Cohousing in Cotati, CA and Glacier Circle Cohousing a senior cohousing community in Davis, CA. The first video is an overview of cohousing including a look at senior cohousing. The second is a moving piece looking at the experiences of a woman diagnosed with cancer and how her cohousing community supported her during treatment.
In an article titled "Green in Portland," Sunset profiles three couples, one of them living in a co-housing development. Portland is famous for its natural beauty, it's commitment to environmental values and its sheer liveabilty.
"Clearly,this town is doing something right. And it all boils down to one simple idea: In Portland, people work together to get stuff done."
Two of those people are Laura Ford and Josh Devine, who live in an infill co-housing community called Sabin Green
". . . four homes on a 75- by 100-foot lot that once housed only a single two-bedroom bungalow and garage. Created by Eli Spevak, a developer specializing in affordable housing, and designed by Mark Lakeman, the homes have porches and trellises and face a central courtyard that includes built-in benches, gardens, a bike shed, and a teahouse with a living green roof. The thriving Alberta Arts District is three blocks away.
Josh and Laura's house, which they bought last year for $143,000, is a mere 530 square feet. "The greenest thing about our home is its size," says Josh, a math and social studies teacher at a school for special-needs kids. "It's the perfect way for young or low-income people to get into the housing market." The arrangement is also a handy mixture of principle and practicality. Says Laura, an assistant for the Food & Farms program at a nonprofit called Ecotrust, "Living in a tiny home really helps with our footprint, but at the same time, it's what we could afford."
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