Founding Meeting – For a new San Francisco cohousing startup venture (Japantown)

The following is from SF cohousing member Dave G., whose goal is not just one but perhaps hundreds of cohousing neighborhoods around the world including many in San Francisco, developed in partnership with existing multi-unit property developers. He envisions an unconventional path to get there, and while this new route is untested, perhaps it can succeed where conventional approaches have failed to take root in the cities' challenging environment. We are not endorsing this approach, but are sharing the event so folks can come and meet him and decide for themselves if it's something they want to be involved in; it's also a good example of how any of you can step up and use the "Suggest a MeetUp" button on our home page to get things in motion, even if you don't have all the details figured out yourself. We look forward to your feedback; alas, we can't be there ourselves this Sunday --Raines Cohen, your Cohousing Coach (http://www.CohousingCoaches.com/) and Cohousing California (http://www.CalCoho.org/) regional organizer.

For years, people have wanted to see cohousing built in San Francisco. And with the City’s shortage of even marginally affordable housing, it's believed that there's an enormous latent demand.

While it’s easy to feel discouraged by high land costs and regulatory challenges, in fact right now may be an ideal time to start creating a new model of cohousing development that will be wildly successful in dense urban areas.

If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, persistence, and are committed to working hard to make cohousing a solid and inspiring reality in San Francisco, you won’t want to miss this meeting! We're especially eager to meet people with experience in the fields of marketing, real estate, finance, or working with the planning department.

We’ll develop the theory, designs, and processes that will make beautiful, sustainable, reasonably-priced cohousing communities a key part of the San Francisco scene. We’ll team up with established developers and nonprofits, cohousing coaches, investors, urban planning experts, and architects to get a number of projects designed, entitled, and built. And eventually, we’ll export our success worldwide, bringing large-scale cohousing to many of the world’s principal cities.