What we're about
Welcome! East Bay Cohousing is for people interested in intentional communities and creating ways of meeting our daily needs for shelter and livelihood through cooperative long-term relationships among peers.
We are a big tent for all manner of self-governing member-led "collaborative housing" communities, including housing cooperatives, student coops, collective and co-living households, as well as co-housing neighborhoods, urban and rural eco-villages, faith-based or service oriented, moshads, kibbutzes and income sharing communes! EBCOHO Members come from every county in the Bay Area, and other parts of the US and the world.
Check out the EBCOHO calendar and events descriptions, past and present, to see the range of events we produce or curate from among our members, friends, partners, friends, and movement allies for a more just, sustainable, and flourishing world. Look for socials, orientations, workshops, discussions, slide shows, movie nights, open houses, work-days, trainings, tours, and conferences.
Explore the Discussion Forums to post and search for openings, forming groups, call-outs from Members, and other features.
Orientations for newcomers are usually offered every 4-6 weeks. This is where you can explore current and long-term opportunities to join a community, ask lots of questions, share who you are and your dreams, and start meeting like-minded people. If you are a do-it-yourself learner or explore the big picture, you'll get lots of useful resources.
Joining EBCOHO also makes you part of Cohousing California. At http://www.CalCoho.org you will find other regional networks, a combined calendar of events, links to forming and existing communities we know, and links to our partners, networks we belong to, and groups we consider allies around the world.
Use the Suggest a Meetup feature if you'd like to see a particular topic addressed, or if you've got something you are hosting. Events we personally host (Cohousing Coaches Raines & Betsy, that is), almost always include ample time for members to share their personal visions, skills and experiences.
EBCOHO is not usually a quick route to cheap housing, although members do share openings and offers, and we do list and refer members to openings in established intentional communities, both rental and ownership, in the Bay Area and beyond.
Thousands of Bay Area residents already live in safe and stable collaborative housing situations sharing life experiences and living expenses, decision-making, and ownership. Across the US and the world, millions more of people are living more sustainably, more democratically, more cooperatively, and more cost effectively, out of the booms and busts of predatory real estate markets.
If you want to know your neighbors well, have a better life by sharing more, and live more peacefully and lightly on the planet then please join us!
MORE.... about the sponsors and hosts of East Bay Cohousing.
This work is self-funded by the organizers, with a depth of knowledge and commitment that makes it unusual among Meetups (at least we think so!).
Thank you to Supporting Members and our Coaching Clients for helping defray some of the expenses of this labor of love. We thank you with a free orientation, and discounts to future events hosted by us and some of our sponsors/partners. You can track income and expenses on the Money page.
EBCOHO and Cohousing California are projects of Raines Cohen and Betsy Morris and our business partnership, Planning for Sustainable Communities. Each of us has lived in multiple cooperative living situations in the Bay Area before moving in together to Berkeley Cohousing, where we have been members since 2003. Raines has been deeply involved in technology user groups, tech for the social good, journalism and database consulting; Betsy has a PhD, a Masters in city and regional planning, and 20 years experience as a community development and research consultant. Both of us love organizing events that put people first, offer quality resources, and open up new doors and windows to the world that supports our visions and values.
As Cohousing Coaches and project consultants, we provide technical assistance and personalized support for individual members, forming groups, and existing communities. We connect a wide variety of kindred spirits and resources. Please find out more at http://cohousingcoaches.com, or http://www.AgingInCommunity.com/
You can visit our main site at https://www.ebcoho.org/
Upcoming events (4+)
Join us for our online monthly meetup where we review a resource and discuss our key takeaways. Designed as an opportunity to grow our knowledge about cohousing, cooperative practices and the real estate market. We invite a special guest speaker from an existing cohousing community to attend and help guide/inform our group discussion. Whether you’re brand new to cohousing or ready to move tomorrow, we invite you to join us, you may just meet your future neighbors!
For our June discussion we'll be discussing retrofitting and lot splitting with ADUs to create high density housing. We will go through 2 different scenarios with current numbers on some actual properties.
This is part of our ongoing series of online and in person events to build a community of cohousing enthusiasts that want to create or join intentional communities
- gwen246 g.
- Amy W.
- Kate
- 13 attendees
Network event
- Curious about cohousing but don’t know where to start?
- Want to meet with cohousing newbies and experts alike?
This (free) monthly gathering, organized by the National Cohousing Association (Coho/US) will include a Cohousing 101 presentation and ample time to connect and ask questions.
We’ll share cohousing lingo, best practices and more information on how to continue your cohousing journey.
Can't make it this time? No worries. Join us once, or every time – we’ll be here every month on the 10th at 10am MDT. (9 AM Pacific, 11 CDT, 12 Eastern)
(zoom link will be visible closer to the event day, after you RSVP)
- Cohousing O.
- Sue S.
- 2 attendees from this group
This is an in-person open house with a real meal & workday, NOT virtual.
Please join us to get to know our little community, share a potluck lunch and tour the property, and if you have time, stick around to work in the garden.
We may have a one bedroom apartment for rent in the fall, and we will definitely have a three bedroom apartment for rent sometime in 2024. Come join us at this real, in-person open house, see our cohousing community. When we have openings, they usually go to people who have been coming to our gatherings. We like to meet someone at least 3 times before they submit an application.
This is an opportunity to and learn more about this cohousing project, an EBCOHO Supporting Member Group. Please check the group's website for more about the community and the apartment, and more pictures:
http://www.brookdalecommons.org/
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The Open House:
Potluck lunch at noon. We'll eat outdoors unless it's raining. Keep in mind that not all of us are vaccinated, so only come if you're comfortable with mixed company. We're fine with you, whatever your vaccine status!
Please stick around in the afternoon to help us work in the garden, and get to know us.
We appreciate Meetup RSVP's but drop-ins are always welcome, if you make last-minute plans. If you get a chance, fill out this form on our website : http://www.brookdalecommons.org/finance/ and tell us something about yourself. While you're there, check our calendar. We almost always host an open house on the 2nd Sunday of each month.
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About Our Community:
We are currently a community of seven households with the potential to
grow to 9. We're constructing a common house, which is scheduled to be finished in 2023.
We love to gather in our beautiful courtyard. This kept us from being isolated during the pandemic, especially those of us who are single and working from home. This is a great place to work from home.
Even in this urban space there are lots of places to grow flowers and food. The bees and hummingbirds love our garden, and we're growing tomatoes, figs, cucumbers, squash, string beans and peas.
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This regular gathering, although a week later, is part of National Cohousing Open House Weekend.
For more events this weekend and throughout the week ahead, see:
https://www.ebcoho.org/open-house-weekend-2023
- Jenny G.
- 1 attendee
Past events (2,120)
- Jyoti R.
- Cohousing O.
- Jamie T.
- 3 attendees
