From iBerkshires on September 7, 2015:
Net Zero Co-Housing Community Proposed For North Adams.
From Greylock Independent on April 1, 2015: Cohousing is here—making traditional neighborhoods and protecting the environment.
From NPR: February 2015:
Not A Group House, Not A Commune: Europe Experiments With Co-Housing.
Group Organizing Cohousing Community
North Adams, MASS. – The Blackinton Village Cohousing Community announces its first organizing meeting for people interested in learning about the concept and development of a co-housing neighborhood in Northern Berkshire County. The group’s vision is to create an all-inclusive co-housing neighborhood, that is multi-generational, mixed income, ecumenical, eco-friendly and environmentally safe, and accessible to all abilities.
The Free 50 acre parcel of property in the historic Blackinton District between North Adams and Williamstown, MA has been selected as the proposed site. The site faces south, ideal for building zero energy homes.
Cohousing is a type of intentional, collaborative community of private residences, in which residents actively participate in the design and operation of their neighborhood. Cohousing provides the privacy people are accustomed to within the community people seek. The neighborhood’s physical design encourages individual space and social contact. Private homes contain all the features of conventional homes, but residents have access to shared spaces such as a Common House with a large kitchen, a laundry, guest rooms, children’s play space, workshops, whatever the residents decide they want.
There are several hundred cohousing communities throughout the U.S.
According to organizer Jane Shiyah, “We want to ‘put the neighbor back in neighborhood’, creating a place where neighbors look out for each other, where children can play in car-free spaces in sight of their homes, where we can build and live more with sustainability. Cohousing offers an ideal balance of privacy and community, with members choosing to participate in activities at the level they wish.”