

About us
Welcome! This Bay Area region-wide group started out as East Bay Cohousing , 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 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 this group 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!
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 East Bay site at https://www.ebcoho.org/ and the statewide site at https://www.CalCoho.org/
Sponsors
Upcoming events
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Richmond Tiny House Village, Farm & Garden Grand Opening (in person)
Richmond Tiny House Village, Farm & Garden, 2200 Bissell Ave, Richmond, CA 94804, USA, Richmond, CA, USJoin us at the Richmond Tiny House Village, Farm and Garden designed for and with participation of homeless youth.
Transforming Lives through Community-Driven Housing Solutions
Tiny Village Spirit is a new San Francisco Bay Area based project which has developed as a response to the emergency shelter crisis and the giant need for housing justice in California, the United States, and globally.
We are both promoting construction of tiny house villages as an innovative model for addressing the housing crisis and are also engaged in community organizing of village residents and allies to create systemic change, toward garnering the resources needed to end homelessness.
Tour the site! Volunteer! Enjoy snacks & music!
Alternative RSVP via East Bay Cohousing website. Or text RICHMONDTINY to (925) 281-5643.
51 attendees
Bay Area ADU Expo informal tiny home get-together (Oakland, in-person)
The Bridge Yard, 210 Burma Rd, Oakland, CA 94607, USA, Oakland, CA, USInterested in tiny home villages and backyard cottages and building community? Let's meet at the ADU Expo at the Bay Area BridgeYard (by the Bay Bridge toll plaza, on the bike path) this Sunday.
Look for Raines in his black top hat. At noon, catch a panel led by Rebuilding Together.
This is an informal gathering, we are not exhibiting or sponsoring this event. You have to get your free ticket from the event organizers on EventBrite here.
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Tour full-size ADUs, meet builders and public agencies, attend seminars. Free admission and parking. The event is open til later afternoon.Discover the Bay Area ADU Expo Fall 2026
Thinking about building an ADU, adding a backyard home, or exploring a tiny home? The Bay Area ADU Expo brings together the builders, public agencies, nonprofit organizations, and industry professionals who can help you understand your options and take the next step.
Tour full-size ADUs and tiny homes, compare prefab and modular designs, meet local builders and lenders, and attend educational presentations covering permitting, financing, construction, utilities, fire safety, and more.
Whether you are planning multigenerational housing, creating rental income, or adding extra living space, the Expo offers practical information and real-world examples in one place.Meet Public Agencies and Nonprofit Housing Organizations
Participating organizations include:
- City of Oakland Planning & Building
- San Francisco Planning
- The ADU Center
- Casita Coalition
- Build It Green
- Rebuilding Together East Bay Network
Speak with representatives about ADU permitting, local requirements, housing resources, sustainable building, and the steps involved in planning your project. The ADU Center and Casita Coalition will also present on Sunday.
21 attendees
Creating Utopia: Designing an Ideal Society (Free, In-Person, S. Berkeley)
The Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705, USA, Berkeley, CA, USA FREE 2 hour interactive workshop
This workshop, led by Hank Pellissier, invites participants to imagine and design a radically better society-beginning with the physical landscape of a city and expanding outward into economics, governance, ecology, relationships, and education.
Starting with the landscape design of a single city block and eventually a mid-size sustainable city, participants will collaboratively create a functioning "utopia" that guarantees human needs and desires.
The first part of the workshop focuses on urban design:
- housing-for-all systems
- energy and food sourcing
- transportation
- recreation
- communication
- waste systems
- public safety
- ecology and wilderness.
Participants will incorporate alternative ideas such as:
- co-ops
- collectives
- decommodified housing
- community-owned infrastructure
- subterranean and sky-high construction.
The second half expands beyond architecture into the design of society itself. Participants will propose alternative economic systems, democratic structures, educational models, and new forms of human relationships.
Drawing inspiration from thinkers such as Elinor Ostrom, David Graeber, and Mikhail Bakunin, the workshop asks deep questions:
- How can power be decentralizedl?
- How can housing, learning, and care become universal?
- How do we prevent elites from emerging?
- What kinds of social systems encourage freedom, cooperation, creativity, and ecological survival?
As participants redesign society, they will also revise their urban landscapes-to indicate how politics, economies, and human relationships physically shape the spaces we inhabit.
This is not a lecture. It is an interactive design lab with mapping, collaboration, visual imagination, systems thinking, and real-world problem solving. Participants will be encouraged to dream boldly.
See samples from previous workshops here.
THE GUIDING QUESTION IS SIMPLE:
IF WE COULD REDESIGN THE WORLD-A WHAT WOULD WE BUILD?6 attendees- Network event

The Commons:A Monthly Gathering for the Cohousing Curious (Virtual, National)
·OnlineOnline2 attendees from 6 groups- 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 Alliance (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)
Here's a preview of the video that is shown in the first half hour.
1 attendee from this group
Past events
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