Any Ann Arbor Cohousers?

[eco_mama]

Just wondering if there is anyone here on mothering that lives in one of the cohousing communities in AA. My family spoke with Touchstone today and we'll be taking a tour this Saturday. So if you happen to live there I look forward to meeting you and seeing your community.

[Defenestrator]

I don't live in cohousing, but I've been thinking about it.

The people who live in touchstone are some of the most fantastic people I have ever met.

Two of my homebirth clients live there. One of them posts here as nubianamy. When she was pregnant with her first baby, she had just moved in and was super-busy, so we had a lot of our prenatals at community dinners. I got to know many of the people who live there at those dinners. Now I occasionally play board games there and visit for fun. Most of the families there are homebirthers and it is fun to hear all of their stories.

My two apprentices, who post here as redpajama and hottmama, share a house with their families at Great Oak next door. Great Oak has a large common house and very generously allowed me to host a benefit pancake breakfast for Latina midwives there a few weeks ago. I think my youngest son is going to play in their soccer league too.

I think it is a great place to live. You would certainly fit right in!

[Shanana]

Not yet, but we're thinking really hard about it! I think the biggest obstacle is selling the house we're in now ...

[eco_mama]

Originally Posted by Defenestrator

I don't live in cohousing, but I've been thinking about it.

The people who live in touchstone are some of the most fantastic people I have ever met.

Two of my homebirth clients live there. One of them posts here as nubianamy. When she was pregnant with her first baby, she had just moved in and was super-busy, so we had a lot of our prenatals at community dinners. I got to know many of the people who live there at those dinners. Now I occasionally play board games there and visit for fun. Most of the families there are homebirthers and it is fun to hear all of their stories.

My two apprentices, who post here as redpajama and hottmama, share a house with their families at Great Oak next door. Great Oak has a large common house and very generously allowed me to host a benefit pancake breakfast for Latina midwives there a few weeks ago. I think my youngest son is going to play in their soccer league too.

I think it is a great place to live. You would certainly fit right in!

Wow thanks for posting! That's so great to hear! My family really had no plans to move right now but our landlords dh died forcing her to move back in this house. We got the news coming back from vacation (Monday) and we're just so shocked. I still can't believe that we have to be out by the 28th! So I figured this was our opportunity to explore all options and it just so happens that Touchstone has a place available. Soooooo we'll see!

[hotharmony]

Do you mind if I ask what cohousing is?

[Shanana]

Originally Posted by hotharmony

Do you mind if I ask what cohousing is?

This is the website for one of the A2 cohousing communities. They have info and links there.

http://gocoho.org/

[dadofollie]

We have visited Touchstone, connected with the folks there and love the very idea of living there. Unfortunately, for us, the homes are quite a bit out of our price range which is kind of a shame.

Has anyone else had that thought/ experience, too?

[Shanana]

Not sure what Touchstone is asking these days, but yes, the units in all 3 communitites are - or at least were - expensive. A 3 bedroom condo sold in Sunward in April or May of this year for 200k, which is significantly less than what they were going for before. At the height, I think some 3 bedroom units in Great Oaks went for close to 300k (used, not new). So the pricing is coming down, although not everyone who wants to sell is willing to come to grips with it .

[dadofollie]

Yes, that's what we thought kind of stunk about it. It's a great community for awesome, liberal thinking, primarily white, upper class folks who want community with other awesome, liberal thinking, upper middle class folks. What would be even better to see would be an economically ( and slightly more ethnically )diverse group of people who believe things along the same lines.

On top of that, it would be even more ideal if everyone worked together so that those who felt they could add to the community would be able to join in regardless of economic hardship.


Now, that would be truly awesome.

[hottmama]

Originally Posted by dadofollie

Yes, that's what we thought kind of stunk about it. It's a great community for awesome, liberal thinking, primarily white, upper class folks who want community with other awesome, liberal thinking, upper middle class folks. What would be even better to see would be an economically ( and slightly more ethnically )diverse group of people who believe things along the same lines.

On top of that, it would be even more ideal if everyone worked together so that those who felt they could add to the community would be able to join in regardless of economic hardship.


Now, that would be truly awesome.

I live at Great Oak, and I agree with you, basically, but I wanted to say that there are lots of renters here (including my family, and we're relatively poor) My partner is black, as well as a few other people here, there are people of other ethnicities, and several biracial children, including my own. I'd say my family is almost definitely the poorest (my partner's a grad student at UM and I'm an unpaid slave to Defenestrator), but racially, it's not as bad as we thought it would be.