

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/
Sponsors
See allUpcoming events (4+)
See all- Phoenix Commons Senior Cohousing (Oakland, CA) Virtual Open HouseLink visible for attendees
We welcome you to Phoenix Commons, our Bay Area 55+ cohousing community. We look forward to meeting you from wherever you call home. Join this virtual Open House and get to meet several of our members. Come with all of your questions!
Our community lives in a modern, environmentally friendly building located in the vibrant Jingletown neighborhood of Oakland, CA and is situated along the beautiful Oakland Estuary. (The only US cohousing with an ocean-going dock!)
Many of our units come with sunset views over the San Francisco Bay. We currently have two available units for sale.
On our website, you will find more details about our community. We think you will especially enjoy visiting Our Members page to find out who lives at Phoenix Commons!
http://www.phoenixcommons.com/We look forward to seeing you! The Zoom link will be visible to folks who RSVP. Be sure to check the time in your local time zone (1 PM Pacific).
P.S. from Raines: Join this virtual Open House to meet a few of the incredibly diverse residents, with lots of deep life experience. Could it be for you? Even if you don't live in the area, it is worth coming at least once to get to meet these folks.
- Network event5 attendees from 14 groups hostingPleasant Hill Cohousing (Northern CA-SF East Bay) Tour (Virtual)Link visible for attendees
Join the regular monthly community virtual tour and open house of the San Francisco East Bay's biggest and most "suburban" cohousing neighborhood, Pleasant Hill Cohousing (PHCH), the first "new-build" intergenerational cohousing community in the region, the largest in the East Bay, and a lovely community.
RSVP here on MeetUp or directly via East Bay Cohousing’s website:
https://www.ebcoho.org/ebcoho_phch_tour_20231203
This long-established cohousing neighborhood has been hosting this tour every month for decades (the first Sunday, except on holidays), regardless of whether or not there are openings. The tour is the first step on the path to membership, helping potential neighbors learn more and pre-filter themselves by learning about the community and the next steps in the process.Visit Pleasant Hill Cohousing's page on the region's group site, East Bay Cohousing, for more info, links, and current openings:
https://www.ebcoho.org/Pleasant_Hill/This event is part of the Cohousing Open network of regional MeetUp groups supporting forming and established communities and cohousing seekers. Learn more about how you can get involved at:
https://www.CohousingOpen.org/
## For more on other California communities visit: https://www.CalCoho.org/
Facts about PHCH:
There are 32 units, grouped in various configurations ranging from 2-6 homes per building. The buildings were constructed with wood framing, stucco outer walls, and corrugated metal roofing. The smallest units are 640 sq ft one-bedrooms; the largest are 1579 sq ft four-bedrooms.Each home has its own kitchen. The homes are owned individually as condominiums, with some rentals.
Common Areas
Our 3,835 sq ft Common House contains a kitchen, dining room ("great room"), sitting room, laundry, kids room, teens/older kids room, crafts room, guest rooms, and bathrooms.
The Common House is the only building in the project built with air conditioning. However, to minimize the use of air conditioning, the building also has a cooling tower with large fans that can be used in the evening to pull cooler air into the building and push hot air out.
Other common facilities include swimming pool, hot tub, play area, workshop, bike shed, organic garden, and granite boulders from the original site - both decorative and used by children for climbing.
Location
We're conveniently located near Highway 680 and public transportation, with easy access to Walnut Creek, shopping, and recreation.
Pleasant Hill, population 32,000, is located 30 miles east of San Francisco, 4 miles north of the I-680/Hwy 24 interchange. Mostly a residential community with scattered retail/commercial areas, it is bounded by the cities of Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Concord, and Martinez. In 2000, Pleasant Hill redeveloped its downtown to create a contemporary shopping district just blocks from the site. In addition, an abundance of good restaurants and shops are within easy driving distance. The city has good recreation programs for all ages and regional walking/biking trails traverse it.
Iron Horse Trail
A walking and biking trail - the Iron Horse Trail (so named because it's on the old Southern Pacific Railroad right-of-way) - runs alongside the site and connects to the Pleasant Hill BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station (~1 mile) and downtown Walnut Creek (~4 miles). The 24-mile trail goes north-south from Concord to Dublin and connects to several other trails that traverse the county making for great biking opportunities.
A neighborhood park is located just the other side of Fair Oaks Elementary School adjacent to the site. Briones Regional Park and Mt. Diablo State Park are located nearby providing numerous opportunities for hiking and recreation. There are several health clubs in Pleasant Hill including the YMCA.
Diablo Valley Community College and JFK University are located in Pleasant Hill, and there are several city and county adult education programs in the area.
There are farmers markets in Pleasant Hill (May-Nov) and Walnut Creek (year-round). Several community members participate in a CSA farm, with a weekly delivery of locally grown organic fruits and veggies made even more convenient because we are the drop site.