Saturdays - Westport Cohousing at the Farmer's Market

Today was the second Saturday that Westport Cohousing had a table at the Farmer's Market, held at the Grange on Main Road. It is a very good opportunity to introduce new people to Cohousing and to the early planning of Westport Cohousing. It's also great practice in the 'elevator speech' - trying to communicate some engaging information about Cohousing in a very few seconds. In addition to our explanations, we have three excellent slide presentations that we show on the laptop computer, along with various handouts. Cohousing members staffing the table wear our buttons that say, "Ask me about cohousing." The new banner shows well - see the photo.

The Farmer's Market is a colorful scene - both outdoors and inside the Grange building. Outside there are small tented stands with area farmers and artisans selling colorful luscious fresh vegetables and fruits, tantalizing bake goods from a local bakery, plants and flowers, dried and fresh arrangements, baskets being made, ...it changes a little each week. Inside there are painters, quilters, weavers, knitters, jewelry makers, photographers displaying their work. Several area non-profit groups are inside as well, along with Westport Cohousing. It's also a good place to catch up with old friends!

Fall River Herald News story

Cohousing development could be coming

By Grant Welker

Mon Jul 06, 2009, 12:38 AM EDT

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WESTPORT - Central Village could host a community where residents share everything from meals to lawnmowers to vegetables if a group of residents succeed in bringing a cohousing development to town.

The group has just launched a Web site and is promoting a meeting in Dartmouth later this month about the cohousing movement, lead by the cofounder of a renewable energy building company and a cohousing resident on Martha’s Vineyard. It is scheduled for 7 p.m. July 23 at the Apponagansett Meeting House at 850 Russells Mills Road.

“This summer is our coming out,” said Elaine Ostroff, a Planning Board member who is leading the cohousing effort in town.

The group is considering multiple sites in Central Village, and an architect will soon present a conceptual design for the community, Ostroff said. Plans call for about one-fourth of the 24 units to be designated as affordable. Most cohousing developments are that size, though some have more than 60 units.

If built, the Westport project would be the 15th in Massachusetts. The nearest is Alchemy Farm in Falmouth, a 13-unit development on 16 acres. The group planning the Westport development prefers a site of about 3 acres, Ostroff said.

“A guiding principle of Westport cohousing will be sustainability” — socially, environmentally and economically, the group’s Web site says.

The Cohousing Association of the United States, which promotes awareness and development, lists defining characteristics of cohousing developments as: a process for residents to participate in the design of the project; a design that encourages a sense of community; common facilities like a kitchen or exercise room; and a management structure run by residents.

Management is not hierarchical and residents do not share incomes.

Residents usually share two or three meals a week, baby-sit for each other and plan trips together. Most developments cluster houses together like an old village. “It’s the idea that people can walk between the houses and see each other,” Ostroff said.

The Westport cohousing group will set up a table at the Westport Farmers Market this summer and has a meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 20 at the Macomber Community House to explain their plans.

E-mail Grant Welker at gwelker@heraldnews.com.

Site Planning with generic site

We had a a site planning workshop with architect Randall Imai as part of our meeting on July 16. This was a conceptual exercise to help us begin to understand the density in having 24 units on 3 buildable acres. We came to a few agreements; we wanted more open space in front of the houses; we wanted to feel connected to the Town; there should be a mix of configurations - ranging from a stand alone house to duplexes, Town Houses and perhaps a 2 floor 6-unit dwelling that would have an elevator. This multi-family unit might be adjacent to the Common House. The parking might be in clusters around the site, with pathways connecting the houses to the parking and Common House. We understood that this was 'site planning lite' - to do this properly would be a weekend workshop. We wanted to do this initial planning to have some concepts to share with the community at our big public meeting on August 20.

Randall is going to make some sketches to incorporate our ideas; we'll discuss at the next meeting on Friday July 31.

There were 3 new people at the meeting; they attended the 45 minute pre-meeting
to get a little introduction to the group.

John Abrams speaking about Cohousing

Thursday July 23, 2009 at 7:00PM

Cohousing guru John Abrams will discuss the philosophy behind the growing Cohousing movement, and other ideas on how to build inspired thinking into communities at every level. His talk is entitled “Thinking Like Cathedral Builders: Affordable Housing, Community Preservation and Business for People and Place.”

Abrams is cofounder and CEO of South Mountain Company, a 34-year-old employee owned design/build and renewable energy company on Martha’s Vineyard in West Tisbury, Massachusetts. John's is the author of Companies We Keep: Employee Ownership and the Business of Community and Place (Chelsea Green publishing in 2008).

Abrams serves on the Island Housing Trust and Island Affordable Housing Fund boards, the Green Building Advisor, and the steering committee of Island Plan, which is working on a 50 year plan for the island of Martha's Vineyard. He and his family live in Island Cohousing, West Tisbury, a cohousing neighborhood designed and built by his company.

The event is the third lecture in the Summer Conversations Series that takes place at the Apponagansett Meeting House in Dartmouth, MA. Abrams’ presentation coincides with the launch of Westport Cohousing (www.westportcohousing.org), a small, active group of families planning to build a cohousing community of 24 units in Westport. The multigenerational group, which is actively recruiting new members, seeks to create a socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable community comprised of:

• 24 individual living units built to the highest green standards, near Westport’s Central Village

• A beautiful “Common House”, where several times a week families have the option of

enjoying a group dinner

• A safe place where homes are joined by walking pathways and places where neighbors can gather to chat

• Open areas where children can safely play with each other

• A supportive community with responsible, caring neighbors

• And much more (think of it as an old-fashioned village)

Apponagansett Meeting House is located at 850 Russells Mills Road in Dartmouth, MA 02748.

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