Know your CO Coop Law

Hello All,

Those of you interested in how cohousing goes hand-in-hand with cooperatives went to a meet-up in October, where housing + cooperatives were the focus. Half of the attendees for this event came from this MeetUp, indicating that those involved with cohousing constitute a significant voice within the cooperative movement.

Tomorrow another cooperative event, this one focused upon cooperative law and its' CO-specific provisions. Again I see members of this MeetUp are attending, and this is significant.

Why?

Cohousers and cooperatively-focused entities complement and strengthen one another; they can help one another get what each is wanting...

What coops do for cohousing:

1. Bring a traditionally younger demographic to the fore, making cohousing communities more sustainable and resilient over time;
2. Offer a way to integrate productive components into cohousing, including worker and consumer cooperatives around food, farming, technology, child/elder care, design, art, etc.
3. Bring in models of permanent affordability into the mix i.e. limited equity cooperatives
4. Provide one way of accommodating community-owned rentals.

Now what cohousing does for coops:

A broadening, an enhancing of public perception around cooperative living and enterprise. Very important.

Cohousing communities have a well-recognized and successful track record and coops can ride this wave. The reputation of cohousing, one that affects how banks, investors and institutions that are in a position to say yes or no respond:

1. They are on balance very well-managed business entities, are innovators in the area of community management systems;
2. They are financially desirable--cohousing properties appreciate nicely and have proven themselves more recession-proof than their traditional multi-family counterparts.

Finally, most cohousing communities are multi-generational, and quite a few have aged like wine. Durable. Lasting. This debunks the notion that cooperative living is just for college students (many of whom have unfairly gotten a bad rap within neighborhoods).

We need each other.