48 ~ Sunday, October 24, 1993 - North Shore News Co-housing brings people together, just like old times I WANT to teil you about 2 newish kind of housing, ‘‘newish’ though it’s been available in Denmark for some 30 years, and has spread from there to other parts of Europe, now to North America and even to a most t unlikely host, Japan. There is a move afoot to “introduce it into North Vancouver,.and from what I’ve read of it this ‘‘co- " housing”’. might be the har- | binger of a balanced, satis- fying lifestyle for many of us grownups... . .Co-housing, not co-op or co-operative housing, mind. This is different. In. this concept each fam- ily has its own house, its own private spaces which it -. occupies and is. responsible for. : The eg)? part arises fr om the fact that each house is a part of a small designed community; the co- refers to. community. > ‘sharing; community respon-. _. sibility, community pride... ‘and community support. ° “It’s what a lot of people : find: missing these days, . | ‘ when we're alienated from - each other by. TV. and self- “pressures and swolle:i pop- -ulation. ° » I’ve not yet.seen such a complex, but J’ve been reading a most detailed book about its origins in Denmark. . oes The design of each small 4 or medium-sized housing : group is determined entirely :: bythe people who want it; . who come together to plan ‘and work. for and livei in the: place. ”-You.can hear more about _ Lit, arid talk to people with ‘real experience on the even- «ing of the 28th, this | coming -. Thursday.’ ‘ - Phone $88-3999 or 980- . 0799 ‘if you want to meet with them at Capilano Col- lege. It’s at.7 p.m. Think about a village, or *. just a block or two, where the street is pedestrian-only, where everyone enjoysa. .° private area at back but where fences are unneces- sary. - Add a large, central building housing workshops, WED., OCT. 27 SAT. OCT. 30 THE VINTAGE YEARS . children’ s play room, a music room, laundry, guest - rooms for visitors, and a dining hall with kitchen and storage thoughtfully designed. ‘Some of the houises would’ ~ be occupied by elderly cou: ples who are more or “less ‘ around most of the time, some by working parents in larger preraises with children - who go to schoul ii¢arby or _ are under care in the nursery on site. Young, upwardly mobile types in some, single parents, cid people living alone but thoroughly en- joying the adjacent family . life and the chance to choose to mingle. Everything is for everybody, and al! ages and conditions of lifestyle take advantage of the controlled “ mixture. “Controlted”’ is a chamsy word there, because control -is totally in the hands of the ’ people who originally come together to determine the” style and size and pattern of their own to-be- neighborhood. And when it’s time to move in, control remains with the residents, the run- ning of the enclave, its tenor and its success. I think of my mother who, when she was widowed in her middle 60s, came to Vancouver to be near her children. But the children were spread all over the city, which she didn’t under- stand; it was so big and so... indifferent and so difficult - for her. She hated it. She grew rootless and restless and disappointed, and when she was finally manoeuvred into a seniors’ residence she despaired. “All these old people,’’ ‘she said, and died too soon thereafter. The co-housing style would have let her do a bit of gardening, which she’d always loved; it would have given her children’s voices and a companion for her cups of tea had she wished; it would have encouraged her to tell the stories from her fife and sing the old songs in her lovely con- tralto. As it was, everything around her went too fast - and allowed no time for just being. It’s not. for everyene, nat- urally. Not all of us want to take our turn cooking din- ner for the whole neighbor- hood, which is a require- ment for residence: But two do it together and find it rewarding; the children have to set the tabies, the number necessary being known beforehand. One signs up two days in advance for the communal dinners, for which pay is collected following the meal.:. Probably the children would profit from it most, the mingling with all layers, all ages, a variety of lifestyles and in safe surroundings. 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