We believe the co-housing model of community organization is the best model for active seniors who are seeking the best way to sustain a vital community. We also think a cooperative form of ownership is the best way to sustain a community financially. Although the two have different histories, they both try to achieve the same outcome – a group of people who intentionally try to work together to create a sustainable and interdependent neighborhood that fosters independence and honors privacy. Rather than move into a senior-friendly community and accept what is offered by professional management, people now have an alternative to choose a lifestyle that uses cooperative principles (found in both co-housing and cooperatives) to achieve a self-managed community where the members make the rules.

So for our purposes, co-housing and cooperatives should be seen as siblings, with very few differences – used interchangeably for simplicity. A “cooperative lifestyle community” is therefore a descriptive term for a community where all choose to live under cooperative and co-housing principles.

It is simple when you look at the many similarities rather than the few differences. The few differences are mainly related to finance. Most co-housing developments use the condo model, where there are 41 individual owners with individual title (each paying their own bank mortgage) to their unit, but are also part of a HOA that requires joint liability. A co-op is a group of 41 individual shares of a single mortgage together and have an HOA much like a condo HOA. Co-housing owners must respect the individual ownership of each unit like a traditional condo, while trying to live together under some blanket philosophy to try to live together. Co-ops have certain rights that condos do not have under the law. When a group of people choose to live in community these differences do not mean much, but when a dispute arises, the law comes first. The difference really should boil down to how you pay your mortgage. If you live in a condo you pay the bank, if you live in a co-op you pay your neighbors, who then pay the bank.

There are currently four co-housing communities designed for older adults in the country (with many more in Northern Europe, where they originated). In this country, two of these, Wolf Creek and Glacier Circle, are located in California and an additional five communities are now under development, including Phoenix Commons. There are many more senior cooperatives in the Midwest and East Coast, where co-ops are common forms of ownership. There are many co-housing and cooperative communities throughout the United States that have no age restrictions – they are often called multi-generational communities. Age-restricted communities are new, but are quickly becoming much more popular. Some of the seniors who live in senior-only co-housing and co-ops moved there from multi-generational communities.

There are many co-housing communities in the United States, but only a small number of senior co-housing communities in this country, although their numbers are growing. Most co-housing communities are currently financed as condominiums for various reasons. They are also independently managed by the members of the community with no outside management. More than an architectural style, this form of community is also about how people live together to try to achieve a better outcome than living alone. The organization is intentional in that all who choose to live there agree to contribute to the common good, make decisions by consensus, and accept the responsibilities of being a member of a community that works together without the control or interference of outside management.

Co-housing does have its architectural influences or conventions that make such communities unique when compared to conventional housing. The community is usually designed to allow for easy casual interaction, have a guest room(s) or apartment, and a “common house” much larger than typical condo community rooms. The design of the community is a joint effort of the members who will live there along with the developer and architect. The key element here is the involvement by future members early in the design phase. Although building codes, multifamily-type construction and prudent choices to achieve economical solutions dictate much of the building, future residents participate in many design decisions that affect how they will live. This participatory form of design is unique to co-housing and is an integral part of creating a sustainable community. The form of ownership is usually a condominium, but it can be a cooperative. Phoenix Commons will be financed as a cooperative, but it still looks to the co-housing model for its organizational philosophy.