54 Communities Number 177

Making a Case for Urban Cohousing

By Grace H. Kim
A view of Capitol Hill Cohousing’s
rooftop garden and
neighborhood context.

William Wright Photography

W
 hile cohousing has traditionally been established in rural or many, including the young and elderly, walkability should also be consid-
suburban contexts, as a cohousing consultant I am seeing an ered interchangeable with independence. Walkable neighborhoods allow
uptick in those who are interested in building urban commu- everyone of all mobility and ability levels to enjoy the freedom of meeting
nities. There are benefits to urban cohousing, many of which are mir- with friends, running errands, and going about one’s day without relying
rored in the reasons my husband and I chose an urban location in Seattle on another person to shuttle them to and from the activities of daily life.
to start our own cohousing community. While our reasons for choosing The same is true for individuals who choose to live without a car, families
this urban lifestyle are personal, I believe they resonate with many other with one vehicle, and others who might otherwise be homebound without
families, seniors, and individuals, such as those who found and joined us access to a vehicle.
on our cohousing journey. Here, I will make a case for urban cohousing, Walkability, in conjunction with the abundance of services made avail-
and discuss how our community has benefited from our densely urban able by an urban site, makes urban cohousing an attractive option for
location. Please note that I use “community” to describe our cohousing many cohousers.
community and “neighborhood” to describe the greater neighborhood
that surrounds it. How “urban” is urban?
“Urban” means different things to different people. For those who are
Why choose an urban site? used to living in rural areas, urban is anything within the city limits. For
There are some simple yet practical reasons to choose urban cohousing. others urban is a single-family house in a residential neighborhood within
Urban sites usually have the zoning in place to build multifamily housing, walking distance of coffee shops and a grocery store. For still others, urban
whether it be stacked flats or clustered homes. This translates to reduced means living in a multistory building within a dense urban neighborhood
time and expense for land use approval, there are no rezone applications with shops and services at the street below. When starting a new urban com-
or hearings, and there is a reduced likelihood of neighborhood opposi- munity without a site determined, it’s important to define what you mean
tion. Fewer hurdles to development can mean fewer expenses and a faster by “urban” so that newcomers are clear about how urban you intend to be.
development process. Our site is located in Capitol Hill, one of the densest neighborhoods in
Urban sites also have the added benefit of convenient access to coffee Seattle and purportedly among the densest west of the Mississippi. Our
shops, grocery stores, and restaurants. But because of our society’s reliance community was built on one-tenth of an acre, just 4,500 sq. ft. The con-
on cars, one’s ability to drive and maintain a driver’s license can stand ventional single family lot in Seattle averages 5,000 sq. ft. The building is
in the way of the convenience that walkable neighborhoods afford. For five stories tall with nine two-to-three bedroom homes that range in size

Winter 2017 Communities 55

 from 810 sq. ft. to 1,300 sq. ft. My architectural office is located on the
Diagram showing building’s ground floor, and our street brings restaurants, coffee shops,
circulation spaces of and neighborhood services within steps of our front door. This is how we
building, as well as defined “urban.”
common house,
courtyard, and
rooftop farm activation.
Who does urban cohousing attract?
Urban sites attract a diverse set of people for many different reasons.
Use our community as a case study of this fact: Our community is made
up of singles, retirees, empty nesters, and families. We are 17 adults and
11 children, all full-time residents. The adults range in age from mid-
30s to late-60s, the kids from one year to 16 years. We have four school
teachers, three university professors, three architects, a graphic designer,
a computer scientist, a web designer, and a finance director from a local
nonprofit. Three of our nine households are comprised of people of color.
Every family and individual had different reasons for joining us. One
woman moved from another local cohousing community because she
wanted to be closer to the performing and visual arts venues where she
attends events two to three times a week. A couple of retirees lived on
Capitol Hill for 30 years before joining us. They had looked into cohous-
ing before but didn’t want to relocate to a more residential part of Seattle.
Our site is halfway between their two previous homes, and gives them the
urban density they desire. Many of the families in our community already
lived in the neighborhood but were renting and, in addition to commu-
nity, liked the housing stability cohousing provides.
Our location has the added benefit of proximity to city transit, such as
Seattle’s Light Rail. Our residents who work at the University of Washing-
ton appreciate being one stop away from the campus by light rail. This is a
community in which my husband and I plan to age in place, so we wanted
to live in a neighborhood that was vibrant and diverse, with all of my daily
needs within walking distance.
Schemata Workshop

Just within our community, there are varying and unique reasons for
being attracted to cohousing in an urban environment.

Engaging the neighborhood at large

Our urban location makes neighborhood connections possible by prox-
imity and daily reminders of these pressing community needs. Many in
Common house activity after an event. our community are involved in our neighborhood. Several members are
involved with a local homeless youth advocacy, job training, and housing
services organization. I serve as the chair of Seattle’s Planning Commis-
sion and am involved with the Chamber of Commerce and my daughter’s
Schemata Workshop

public school PTA. I also serve on the board of an advocacy organization

for affordable housing in our county. My husband chairs the Capitol Hill
Ecodistrict and the Disaster Preparedness committee for our professional
association. Two of our community’s teenagers are very involved with an
LGBTQ youth organization.
We have a rooftop farm that provides produce for a farm-to-table res-
taurant located about six blocks from our building. And we have been
talking with the local community college to engage their sustainable agri-
culture students in internship opportunities.
Our urban location makes these connections possible by proximity and
daily reminders of these pressing community needs.

What does urban cohousing look like?

Urban cohousing looks a lot like suburban and rural cohousing, just
concentrated in a smaller footprint. In our building, we reimagined the
idea of the pedestrian path vertically, connecting our homes with a com-
mon staircase and shared balconies. Instead of a large outdoor recreational
area, we have a central courtyard that serves as a dining area for meals,
play area for children, and gathering space for meetings or events. Our
Schemata Workshop

Common House anchors one side of the courtyard and provides a com-
mon kitchen, and more eating and meeting spaces. The large glass, French
View of courtyard from above doors that connect the Common House to the courtyard give us flexibility
with resident children playing. in using the two spaces.
The three homes per floor share access to a balcony that overlooks the

56 Communities Number 177

courtyard. This exterior space means we can see each other come and go Meal prep for
and has the added benefit of reducing our heated and conditioned spaces. community meal
When he visits, my father says our building “feels so alive.” There is life in the
and activity all around to remind us that we are not alone. This is true for common
all cohousing, and possible in an urban environment when we consider house.
traditional cohousing elements in new and imaginative ways.

How does community come together in urban cohousing?

Cohousing in an urban environment doesn’t make creating community
any more difficult than in rural or suburban cohousing. Depending on
goals or values, different cohousing communities will come together for

Mark Hipple
different reasons and in different ways.
In our community, we come together for meals. We have dinners three
times a week—just about every other day. Our meal program has man-
datory cooking participation, and, because of the ease of our system, we
have high participation. There are times that the teenagers don’t come, The building’s
or that one of us has an after-work meeting, event, or are simply out of street-facing façade
town but there are often guests—sometimes several—and it generally feels at an open
like a dinner party. While people are welcome to take a plate to go, it is house event.
more typical that people in our community linger after dinner to share in
continued conversation.
We also come together in our civic engagement. In the Common
House, we host events for the nonprofit organizations that we support.
Sometimes we have sign painting parties for rallies and marches, and we’ll
host friends and fellow marchers for dinner after those events.
And, of course, we love to come together to celebrate birthdays, anni-
versaries, or weddings. We never have more fun than when we get to eat

Danny Ngan
cake and to dance.

But I need a garden!

When we were recruiting for our group, and even now when I make
presentations about our urban community, I often hear “but I need my
garden.” And to address this concern, we talk about all the many ways we

William Wright Photography

bring nature into our homes and community.
While most people think they need dirt in the ground, we know that in
urban locations, the dirt in the ground around us is sometimes contaminat-
ed from spills, or leaching, or simply car pollutants like oil, lead, and brake
dust. In our community, we garden with raised bed planters, we import
clean soil, and we control what goes into it by farming organically with no
chemical pesticides or fertilizers. In our rooftop garden, we produce food for
our community dinners but also for our neighborhood restaurant partner.
On our balconies and private terraces, we plant fresh herbs and flowers.
We each have a chance to garden in the way that works for us, and we
can bring the natural world indoors. Urban sites can also provide easy
access to parks and other green areas, so the children in communities like
ours rarely want for space to run around and play, even without a tradi-
tional yard.

Conclusion
Urban is not for everyone, but for those who are interested in cohous-
ing without losing access to the amenities, conveniences, and vibrancy of
city life, it can offer a unique alternative to other types of housing. Our
urban community is far from perfect, but we all feel quite lucky to have
the community and quality of life that we have found living here. n

Grace H. Kim is a member of the American Institute of Architects and

co-owner of Schemata Workshop, based in Seattle, Washington. She is also the
cofounder of Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing (for whom Schemata Workshop
served as architect). Grace is an internationally recognized expert in cohous-
ing, with a special expertise in Common House Design. She has served on
the board of the Cohousing Association of the US and has visited over 80
communities in Denmark and North America. Grace gave a TED talk on
cohousing which can be seen at www.ted.com/talks/grace_kim_how_cohous- View of residents’ shared
ing_can_make_us_happier_and_live_longer. balconies from inside a unit.

Winter 2017 Communities 57

 Community-Building in the City
By Sheila Hoffman and Spencer Beard

W
e have lived in the heart of Seattle, on Capitol Hill, for more numerous team meetings to devise plans for our common meals, integrate
than 35 years. This is the story of how we landed in an inten- the kids into the community, draft our legal structure and operating agree-
tional community. ments, and most importantly design and develop the building and how it
We love the density, diversity, and walkability of our neighborhood. The would all get financed and maintained.
idea of intentional community always interested us. When we explored co- 2. The Property
housing in the early ’90s everything seemed to be out in the country. Living Property in the city is at a premium. Generally developers buy it and then
in a rural setting seemed isolating to us. After 20 years in a large house where sell condos to make back their money with a hefty profit. Of course since we
we spawned two all-volunteer community groups, but had no children and were not building to sell at a profit we had to factor in the higher property costs.
didn’t know our neighbors despite efforts, we decided to downsize to a new, The site itself is one city lot, about 4500 sq. ft.—40 ft. wide and 113 ft.
nearby 150-unit condo that was marketed as community-living. For the deep. Original plans explored buying adjacent lots, but we were unable to
first few years it was “cohousing lite” because we did many things to foster make that happen. To maximize floor area we chose to build lot-line to lot-
community. But when community isn’t “intentional” it really is not sus- line, which meant no windows on the north and south. To include windows
tainable. We soon felt isolated again because no one shared our vision for would have meant a 3 ft. setback, which would mean lost living space and a
community. In 2010 we heard about a forming cohousing community with higher rent per square foot.
property located in our neighborhood. And that is where our story begins. We were required by the city to have commercial space on the ground
floor and the site topography allowed for a maximum height of five stories.
Challenges We’ve Faced This limited the number of units we could create in our space. Combined
1. Finding the People, and Developing Community with the limitations of a single lot, we ended up with nine apartments rang-
We began with regularly scheduled introductory meetings promoted ing from 810 sq. ft. to 1300 sq. ft. plus 900 sq. ft. for our Common House.
through the neighborhood blog. We joined the group after that first meet- Fortunately parking spaces were not required because our location is in an
ing and got to work by publishing a website with our vision and values to “urban hub” with a myriad of transportation options including bus, light rail,
help attract folks who would be a possible fit. During this process we “kissed bike and car shares. This saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars for the cost
a lot of frogs.” Many folks were excited about cohousing and/or our project, of underground parking. We’re in walking distance of hospitals, library, gro-
but for an assortment of reasons it didn’t work for them. Barriers included ceries, parks, farmers’ market, restaurants, entertainment venues, and colleges.
timing, size of units, cost, and lack of parking. Of course in some cases it 3. Time and Money
just wasn’t a good fit. It was a “self-selecting” process with no application The rule of thumb we’d heard going in is to expect the process to take
form, background checks, or community approval. Potential candidates about five years. When we started in 2010 we thought that having a site and
simply came to more and more events. And it worked. After several years cohousing-savvy architects already in place would save us time. Our project
we had all nine of our families committed and participating. Everyone in- actually took longer. We lost a full year due to the lawyers who couldn’t com-
volved was drawn to living in community AND specifically to this urban prehend that the founders didn’t want to make a big return on their original
Capitol Hill location. investment to buy the property or that the LLC we formed wasn’t motivated
Our intention to build our skills as a community was an integral part of by the capitalistic idea to maximize profits.. That delay put us on the back
our success. Early on we had several all-day, professionally facilitated work- side of a construction boom in Seattle, which meant we had difficulty finding
shops which included creating our vision and values, learning to make deci- contractors and subcontractors within our budget for the project.
sions by consensus, conflict resolution, communication styles, and power In 2014, as we neared closing on our construction loan, our developer re-
dynamics. From the beginning we had monthly business meetings with pot- alized we had a $700K shortfall in the equity our group was bringing to the
lucks, and sometime before construction started we added biweekly Supper table. She helped us brainstorm a way to raise the money, a seemingly im-
Club. We organized social events such as roller-skating, going to baseball possible task. Within a month we raised all the funds through low-interest
games, bowling, game nights, pumpkin carving, and post-Thanksgiving loans from friends and family—including those who didn’t know us person-
potlucks to create connections and a sense of community. There were also ally but lived in cohousing and wanted to see us succeed. Our developer

58 Communities Number 177

mistakenly believed that once the building was completed we could get a leads the prep with two assistants. The cook spends what they want, rec-
large enough mortgage to pay off these loans. Sadly, the new loan amount ognizing they will enjoy 17 meals free over the next six weeks. Everyone’s
came in lower than expected. The final amount was based on the LLC’s net special dietary needs are accommodated along with a commitment to being
income and since we want to keep our rent low, our loan was correspond- nutritious and delicious.
ingly lower. So it will take longer than we planned to retire our debt. We’ve had fun with figuring out interesting menus—some simple and
4. Unique Financial Model others much more elaborate with specialty cocktails and desserts. Plus,
Why didn’t we just build condos? Due to the 2009 crash, no one was guests are always welcomed.
lending for new condo construction and we learned that the national Coop 2. Decision-Making
Bank was not interested in financing any new cohousing projects. We devel- We’ve learned there is a great power in community we might call Trusting
oped our own model. We formed an LLC which owns the building, which the Group’s Wisdom. On many occasions we’ve been to the edge of throw-
is how many apartment buildings are owned. Since we are all members of ing in the towel because a problem seemed insurmountable. We’ve found
the LLC, we essentially rent from ourselves. that when we hit an impasse the best approach is to remind ourselves of
Being both landlords and tenants was unconventional enough to make these two important points:
the bank underwriters nervous at first. But actually it offers advantages to 1) Keep an open mind rather than being attached to the idea you came
the community. For one thing it allowed younger families and those with- in with AND...
out liquid assets to remain in the community—we didn’t require each fam- 2) Remember it’s about what is best for the community.
ily to have a large down payment for a home. It also means when families With these points guiding us, we consistently come out the other side
downsize, they can change the unit they occupy without changing title and with a better solution than any one of us started with.
without the associated costs of selling and buying into another more expen- 3. Rooftop Farm Partnerships
sive one which would be a typical condo scenario. The city requires a certain amount of greenspace in every urban project.
5. Construction Delays and Quality Rather than grass, trees, or flowers, we opted to create a working farm to
We started with a big vision and high values around sustainability and support our goals of sustainability and community partnerships. Since most
construction quality. But once again monetary realities created challenges of us have full-time jobs and/or children, we partnered with Seattle Urban
and compromises. With all the construction in town, prices skyrocketed Farm Company (SUFCo) to design, construct, and operate our farm. We
for everything from labor to materials. Along the way we had to scale back held a web-based “BarnRaiser” to raise the donations to pay for the build-
some of our green building plans. We still retained many sustainable fea- out of the raised planters, the additional structural system to support the
tures which also enhanced our community interaction such as taller win- roof, and the irrigation system. Then we partnered with a nearby white-
dows, higher ceilings, and wide walkways. tablecloth restaurant that is paying the on-going maintenance costs directly
One setback was when our electrical contractor went belly-up mid-project. to SUFCo. In return they get a large percentage of the harvest for their
The General Contractor had to find a replacement. Then the new contractor upscale “farm-to-table” menu. The community also gets some of the fresh
had to review and fix a lot of what was thought to have been already completed. produce for community meals. And best of all, our kids learn where their
Construction delays ultimately ate up any budget that might’ve provided some food comes from, how it grows, and can get their hands dirty.
of the comforts of home such as rooftop furniture and Common House fur-
nishings. One way we have addressed it is with occasional anonymous funding In Closing
sourced within our community for the things removed from the budget. We have now lived in Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing for more than a
year. We love living in community with adults and children, sharing meals
Notable Successes three times a week, being available to each other’s needs including walking
1. Meal Program children to school, pet sitting, repairs, outings, etc. Recently we all attended
We decided early on that meals would be the glue of our community. the wedding celebration of one of our resident couples. We clearly have
Therefore our Common House kitchen and dining areas were designed to built not only an apartment building but a true sense of community. n
accommodate our whole community and guests, including having a pantry,
guest room, and laundry. Sheila Hoffman and Spencer Beard have had “founder’s energy” for decades,
We consider our food program a huge success. In fact, a cohousing visitor having founded and led the local chapter of EarthSave International in the ’90s
from Australia declared it was “brilliant!” It provides a variety of tasty meals. as well as founding the Evergreen Tandem Club in 2001 and of course being part
It frees up busy parents and professionals from almost half their evening of founding Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing on Seattle’s Capitol Hill (capitolhil-
meal preparation. This simple system where everyone participates requires lurbancohousing.org). Sheila develops WordPress websites and Spencer is a retired
no bookkeeping. The head cook decides the menu, buys the food, then elementary school teacher. At 68 and 65 respectively, they are the elders in CHUC.

Photos courtesy of Sheila Hoffman

Winter 2017 Communities 59

 These articles excerpted from
Communities, Issue #177, Winter 2017,
available for print and/or digital purchase here.

www.ic.org/communities-magazine-home

www.ic.org/community-bookstore/product/communities-magazine-177-urban-communities

60 Communities Number 177