Bring your favorite picnic foods, beverages and utensilsfor a low-waste event. Share food and beverages with others if you wish. Register separately for each location so that we can contact you in case of cancelation due to weather.
Lincoln Park, outdoor playground pavilion. Head up Lincoln Park Drive from the intersection of 25th Ave West and West 3rd street. Look for the picnic tables under the shelter. Park in the small parking lot or on the street. Map for Lincoln Park Playground Shelter
Look for TCCN’s banner at the picnic area on the west side of the park located at 1300 Midway Parkway, east of Hamline Avenue, near the mini golf course and children’s playground. Bathrooms are located near the picnic shelter. Picnic parking is first come first serve. Map of west picnic shelter location.
Como Park picnic shelter, west picnic grounds. St. Paul, MN.
Join us April 19 from 10:00-11:30 AM to discover how senior cohousing differs from other senior housing options.
“Ours will not be our parents’ aging. It will be different— vibrant, socially revolutionary, and fun.”
So dreamed the founders of Wolf Creek Lodge, a senior cohousing community in Grass Valley, CA, thriving since 2012.
What differentiates senior cohousing from other kinds of senior living? Does it exist in Minnesota? How does it work? Who might like it and who might not?
Discover what senior cohousing has to offer by registering below. With the help of brief video clips shown during the event, Twin Cities Cohousing Network (TCCN) will be your guide for questions and conversation on this topic.
Seniors in Cohousing Sat, April 19, 2025 10:00-11:30 CDT Free and open to all
Established in 1991 as a charitable organization, TCCN Cohousing Network works to educate Minnesotans about cohousing and connect people who are interested in it.
Get a feel for a variety of cohousing communities by attending in-person and virtual local and national cohousing open house events the week of April 28.
✅ Drop in to chat with TCCN volunteers during our virtual cohousing open house event. Learn about TCCN and talk informally about cohousing in Minnesota in these times.
✅ Let TCCN publicize your local open house or virtual tour in TCCN New
Create an in-person or virtual event to inform people about your cohousing community, or plans to create one, anywhere within TCCN’s service area.
Email TCCN News editor Becca Brackett by April 10 (Becca@tccoho.org ) with details for your date, time, location, and how to register for your event to include it in the April edition of TCCN News.
East Lake Commons (ELC) cohousing community is located in the Metro area of Atlanta, Georgia. It was started in 1997. The initial idea for the co-housing community came from a group of folks at the local Quaker meeting who teamed with developer Jack Morse. East Lake Commons is one of the largest Cohousing projects in the US with 67 units with about ten basement rentals.
Karen, a long time resident, was kind enough to accommodate my (Jan’s) family for a two and half hour walking tour of their beautiful community. Karen was frank about not only sharing the community’s successes, but also their shortcomings.
Geothermal piping under the soccer field provides yearly 68 degree air to the common house making it an energy saver both in cold and warm weather. The common house is the light yellow building beyond the field, with solar panels on roof.
General Features of East Lake Commons in Atlanta
Zero-steps design help make all buildings accessible.
Permanents and temporary signposts to help delivery drivers locate houses easily.
A community provided wagon is available for their local postal worker to deliver mail to the common house.
Housing Units
Maintenance HOA fees of $290-330 per house.
Many homes have multiple floors, but some are single level flats.
With the aging demographics there aren’t enough single level flats to accommodate less mobile residents. Some are equipped with wheelchair doors and wheelchair accommodations inside.
Solar panels are installed on 12-15 homes.
To attract a more mainstream appeal for his investment Jack Morris had pushed for larger residential units, so the units here are larger than would be typical of a Cohousing project.
A view of the Great Room in the common house at East Lake Commons.
East Lake Area Redevelopment
The redevelopment of the whole East Lake area was a unique product of cooperation between government, commercial interests, and social associations. Twenty-five years ago, the East Lake district was one of the highest crime areas in Atlanta. There had been a large public housing project in the East Lake district that was in poor condition and was demolished. See for some more insights on this history.
To be clear, the cohousing project was built on farmland and was not replacing the public housing that was demolished nearby. (See, for example, East Lake Meadow A Public Housing Story, Arizona PBS, 3/24/2020/.) The tragedy of that public housing project does point to the disadvantages of designing housing for one narrow economic class, such as for low income households. Such segregated public housing projects are subject to vacillations of government funds (and their approved designs are not designed for social cohesion). These areas such as the East Lake district were cut off from investment opportunities due to redlining. For more insight into these problems see The Death And Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs (1961).
East Lake Commons was just one part of this revitalization of the area. The community has both home ownership and rental units.
ELC is self managed, and there is a commitment to keep monthly HOA fees affordable. At present, the monthly HOA (Home Owner Association) fees range from $290-330 per month. (These fees maintain the common areas of the community and are in addition to the monthly payments for individual units.) Potential residents are informed of the expectations of participation and consensus decision making.
Common meals are considered the secret sauce of cohousing. For many years, 30-40 residents would attend Sunday community meals 3 times a month. This worked great for a long time with each person volunteering to cook or clean one out of every three meals. However, COVID shut down the common house and the community meals. When it restarted the community meals dropped from 3 to 1 meal per month. Potlucks have been used as a temporary strategy to get community dinners restarted and are still being used. For this reason, the commercial kitchen is underutilized.
The community was better able to withstand Covid than most housing complexes. Outdoor concerts, safe events, help from neighbors, and less stress mitigated the consequences that came with Covid. ELC residents with medical backgrounds formed a Covid task force that made recommendations for the community and helped care for sick residents.
Twenty-five years ago at the start, parents brought their kids to community meetings. The distractions of the children made meetings a bit more noisy but encouraged greater participation. After several years child care was provided in a nearby room in an effort to attract more parents to meetings but it did not increase meeting attendance so was eventually dropped. ELC has struggled with attracting newer residents and families with young children to meetings. People generally volunteer for big events like weddings, funeral services, and birthday parties, but the day to day community participation has steadily decreased over the years and is now a major challenge. It is difficult to ensure members contribute the four-hours per month the community asks of them; there is no system to track community work or any enforcement mechanism. This impacts the bonding that would normally take place when participating in maintenance projects and community meals. A participation task force has been created to encourage community service.
The lack of any selling covenants is a hindrance to integrating new residents into the community. By the time someone wants to leave cohousing (especially if they discovered it’s not for them) they are typically not concerned about the new buyer’s commitment to community values. The larger units bring in a wider audience but the lack of requiring buy-in or education on what cohousing entails means that new community members are likely uninformed or even disinterested in the idea cohousing.
East Lake Commons relationship to the larger community:
Over the years, this community has run summer camps and homeschool groups, organized festivals and big life events, and hosted workshops on pond management, Master Gardener classes, organized live musical performances and end-of-year dinners on the farm. The community is also the location of a 5-acre Gaia Gardens which is a fully functioning farm with tractor, irrigation, the complete infrastructure. The lessee is required to offer residents a CSA option and can also sell to non-residents and local restaurants.The community leases all this for $1/year to a farmer to start an organic farm business or hone their farming skills Gaia Gardens is currently in its 27th year of operation and is on our 6th farmer. At the peak of the prior farmer’s business, the CSA delivered 255 shares and employed 3 full time employees and several part-timers and volunteers. These numbers are lower now because the previous organic farmer has moved onto a bigger project and our new farmer is learning the business. In addition to the greenhouse, there are two hoop houses (high tunnels) purchased with grants that now make it a four-season operation.
Five-acre Gaia Gardens is a real organic farm with tractor, irrigation, & hoop houses. The community leases the farm for $1/year to a farmer required to offer residents a CSA option. The farm also sells to the public & local restaurants.Five-acre Gaia Gardens at East Lake Commons
I had many questions about raising children within cohousing: how does it work? Does co-housing come with co-parenting? Can community be an answer to the child loneliness epidemic? A couple of seasoned Monterey Cohousing Community members graciously lent me their time in order to find out.
What I found interesting is that both parents and children may exercise a great deal of autonomy from the group. While Monterey is gathered around the idea of community, it does not step over the line of dictating behavior or values associated with parenting or the behavior of any one child. Children are not forced to do chores for the community, this function of behavior regulation falls to caregivers. While there have been formal and informal groups dedicated to the affairs of children in which certain issues are discussed, they are constantly changing and being reformed with the new people who move in to Monterey; furthermore, the only baseline standards which do not change have to do with children’s safety (using the elevator or the woodshop).
Is this a solution for the loneliness epidemic? Not necessarily… Like any neighborhood, there are children of different ages inhabiting at different times. While some years there may be many children of similar age groups, there may be other years where there are very few children. On the other hand, being connected through the wider community there is ample space for spontaneous connection with residents of a variety of ages. Through shared meals, passing each other in halls or yards, or learning how to garden or use the wood shop they are open to conversation and mentorship from a wide variety of perspectives. People of any age may never feel lonely here, as long as they are open to connection.
Parents said the experience of growing up in the community was very important to their children. More than anything, children who grow up in cohousing spaces learn important values and skills: sharing, conflict resolution, respect, and empathy. A few different times were shared with me when both children and adults were involved in problem solving so that all community members felt they were heard and understood. This is not an easy skill to learn, but it is needed most now! While their children haven’t gone on to cohousing communities of their own, they are all aware of the importance of community and have implemented it in their lives in their own way.
Cohousing has been described as a return to village living. It is community designed for connection, with private homes surrounded by shared spaces. Cohousing communities are usually initiated, financed and managed by the residents themselves. Cohousers typically share periodic meals in a “common house.” While some cohousing communities are senior focused, most are multi-generational. What would be advantageous for kids and parents in such an environment? What would be challenging? What might senior members have to gain or lose?
With the help of some video clips, TCCN will be your guide for your questions and conversation on this topic. Also, a couple local groups that aspire to become cohousing communities or cooperatives will provide updates on their status and activities. The basics of what is cohousing will be provided.
Families, friends, and children are welcome! Come early to play at the park, then socialize in-person with others interested in learning about the characteristics of living in a cohousing community and what it takes to create one.
Bring your favorite picnic foods, beverages and utensilsfor a low-waste event. Share food and beverages with others, if you wish. Register separately for each location so that we can contact you in case of cancelling due to weather.
FREE to attend, Sat. July 20, 2024
Como Park, St. Paul 10:30 AM to 1:00 PM — REGISTER
Look for TCCN’s banner at the picnic area on the west side of the park located at 1300 Midway Parkway, east of Hamline Avenue, near the mini golf course and children’s playground. Bathrooms are located near the picnic shelter. Picnic parking is first come first serve. Map of west picnic shelter location.
For those drawn to intentional community and cohousing, they will delight in viewing Alan O’Hashi at 7:00 p.m on May 8, 2024, on Zoom.
A Meet the Professionals speaker event
O’Hashi is a newspaper journalist turned documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, author, nonprofit leader and activist. He works with groups and organizations to help them tell their stories. For this event, Alan will speak from his experience as a board member of the US Cohousing Association and his time living in Silver Sage Village, a cohousing senior community in Boulder, CO. There will be time for Q and A.
Group Zoom viewing at Unity Church Unitarian in St. Paul, space is limited.
Alan O’Hashi
Cultural competency training and facilitation
Cohousing Community Process Consultant
Positions held: Cohousing USA Board of Directors; previously Boulder Planning Board, former Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity St Vrain Valley – Longmont, Colorado.
Alan’s presentation will include material from this book. It is available for purchase at Fellowship for Intentional Community and other booksellers.
Twin Cities Cohousing Network has big ideas for 2024. Please join us Wednesday, Feb. 21 on Zoom event for a special listening session. We want to hear to your feedback about ideas we are considering for 2024 and your suggestions for how to get cohousing communities built!
Twin Cities Cohousing Network has big ideas for 2024.
Registration is required to receive your Zoom link
The volunteers who organize and run Twin Cities Cohousing Network are seeking your input on how TCCN can best assist groups aspiring to build new cohousing communities. Here are two new ideas we are considering:
The first is expanding our scope from the Twin Cities to all of Minnesota. Get a peek at our proposed new name and let us know if you think this change is a good idea and how we should start connecting with others across the state.
Second, would small in-person discussion circles with friends, and friends of friends, be more likely to build energy for cohousing than large Zoom events? Learn about a proposed program that could take place among small groups of people located anywhere in Minnesota. Provide your feedback to help it succeed.
There will be small group discussions, and your questions and will be addressed. And please bring your ideas for future topics!”
Twin Cities Cohousing Network (TCCN) continues to support CohoUS, our national cohousing association. Last year’s Community Partner program has been renamed the Community Member program for 2024.
Being a CohoUS Community Member provides TCCN with access to a valuable array of free and discounted CohoUS recorded programs, online events, trainings, and other offers that can be accessed online at CohoUS and the Cohousing Institute.
You can access all the features mentioned above by making a charitable gift to TCCN of $60 or more during a calendar year.
TCCN Access is limited to residents of Minnesota who are not members of an existing cohousing community. Please complete and submit this form to confirm your eligibility and to see options for making a secure donation.
Twin Cities Cohousing Network is a nonprofit charitable 501(c)(3) organization. Tax ID number: EIN 41-1668910. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law. No goods or services were given in exchange for your gift.
Why do people want to live in cohousing? Karen Gimnig has experienced cohousing as a resident and is professional facilitator who support groups forming and living in cohousing . She is also an author, making her October 11th presentation one you won’t want to miss.
Meet the Professionals: Karen Gimnig
Karen Gimnig is a relationship coach with a particular focus on group process and community. She has lived in cohousing communities in Georgia and Oregon. In her role as a professional facilitator, she offers classes and workshops to support cohousing groups across the country as they build and learn to live together in cohousing. Karen worked for several years for the Cohousing Association of the US. In addition, she co-authored The Cooperative Culture Handbook with Yana Ludwig, making many of the concepts and skills she teaches in her classes and workshops available in book form. Karen currently lives in Anacortes WA with her husband Jamie. They enjoy hiking and sailing through all the beauty of the Puget Sound.
Socialize in-person with others interested in cohousing at TCCN’s annual picnic held in St. Paul, MN.
FREE to attend Wednesday, July 12, 2023 Como Park picnic shelter 6:00-8:00 PM
Shelter photo by St. Paul Parks and Recreation
Bring your favorite picnic foods, beverages and utensils for a picnic with Twin Cities Cohousing Network volunteers and other cohousing supporters and share in an evening of connection and fun at a quaint open-sided picnic shelter in St. Paul’s Como Park. (Map of west picnic shelter location.)
Look for TCCN’s banner at the picnic area on the west side of the park located at 1300 Midway Parkway, east of Hamline Avenue, near the mini golf course and children’s playground. Bathrooms are located near the picnic shelter. Picnic parking is first come first serve.
Families, friends, and children welcome! Meet and greet others with an interest in building and living in cohousing communities in Minnesota.
So we know to expect you and can alert you in case of inclement weather.
Event Schedule
5:30 — Begin to gather at picnic shelter #50. Bring your own food, beverage, and utensils. Water will be available. (Share food items with others if you feel comfortable.)
6:00 — Picnicking and conversation. Discuss existing cohousing and efforts to start new cohousing communities.
8:00 — Clean up.
A child making a giant bubble at the Como Park picnic shelter 2021 event.
Rental costs for the picnic shelter were provided by our supporters. Twin Cities Cohousing Network is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization.
Greg Rosenberg’s experience creating cohousing communities and his extensive knowledge of community land trusts (CLTs) offers an exciting approach to creating cohousing communities with permanently affordable housing units.
Meet the Professionals: Greg Rosenberg
Rosenberg discussed some of the economic justice challenges that come with building desirable places to live, and some of the methods to develop mixed-income cohousing. Cohousing, when not price-controlled, can easily become expensive to the point of being exclusionary. This session will highlight the need for price restrictions using resale formulas (eg. through a community land trust (CLT)) to ensure ongoing affordability, and discuss the steps to subsidize home prices and keep them affordable. Two contrasting examples of mixed-income cohousing in Madison will be featured: Troy Gardens (a project of Madison Area CLT) and Linden Cohousing.
Meet the Professionals: Greg Rosenberg
“The Need for Permanent Affordability: Community Land Trusts and Cohousing”
The Feb. 8 event features updates from groups working to create cohousing communities in Minnesota. Small breakout groups after the updates will allow viewers time to ask questions and engage with each other and our presenters.
Twin Cities Cohousing Network’s next virtual event features updates from groups working to create cohousing communities in Minnesota. Smaller breakout groups after brief group updates will allow views time to ask questions and engage with each other and our presenters. Topics that we have invited our speakers to address include: the ups and downs of forming a core group, working to agree on a common vision, the challenges of finding a suitable site, working with cohousing professionals and addressing challenges of affordability.
Wednesday, February 8, 2023 7:00-8:30 PM via Zoom. Register in advance to receive your zoom link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Minnesota outline provided by Suncatcherstudio.com
