Celebrating community in a disconnected world

The Roberts Creek Cohousing community this month is celebrating its 20^th anniversary.  In May, 2004, Gary Kent, his wife Stacia, Cindy Sutherland, Joyce Chong and others moved into their new housing complex, which they had spent the previous four years building.  The two pictures below show an event held there last month in celebration of several residents who had reached a milestone birthday.  One of the residents being honoured was Marje Umezuki (second from the right), who was turning 90.  Marje, who was one of the original residents, still lives in her own house, enjoys good health and participates regularly in the communal activities. 

Cohousing is a model that combines the privacy of homeownership with the connectedness of communal living.  Also, cohousing communities are designed not by developers but by the homeowners who are planning to live there.

Most real estate developments describe themselves as welcoming, interactive neighbourhoods.  In reality, there are some communities in which the neighbours have little or no interaction.  At the end of that spectrum we might imagine a suburban street of identical large garages protruding from identical houses.  Inside those houses are families who are overworked and exhausted and who spend most of their time alone, either in front of the TV or trying to duct tape their way through life’s problems.  At the other end of the spectrum is a cohousing community, in which the front doors open onto a street that encircles a common house and other shared facilities.  It is a pedestrian street, where the neighbours all greet each other and partake regularly in community meals and social events. 

Many of the people in our hiking group live in the Roberts Creek Cohousing community.  They always arrive to the hikes together – four or five in one car.  It was on one of those hikes that I learned about the community’s 20^th anniversary. 

Turning an idea into reality

Back in the year 2000, creating a cohousing community was like navigating uncharted waters.  The concept, which had originated in Denmark, was virtually unknown in Canada.  “We were inspired to start a cohousing community here after Alan Carpenter came and gave us a workshop about the community they had started In Langley,” Joyce explained to me.  The Roberts Creek group believed that their quiet village would be an ideal place for a cohousing community.  Visitors to “the Creek” are always captivated by its laid-back, retro-hippie mystique and by the convenience of its tiny village centre, complete with post office, library, general store, spectacular public pier, and popular Gumboot Café. 

“It wasn’t easy,” Gary admitted when I met with him and three of the other original members to find out how it got started.  I met with them in the common house, a large timberframe building with a huge dining room and communal kitchen.  Each of the 31 houses is situated on its own treed lot, fronting onto the community’s main street, which winds around the common house and other shared spaces, including a woodworking shop, a kid’s play area and an exercise room. In a sunny spot near the southern end, there is a large vegetable garden and greenhouse.  The property is surrounded by a protected forest that slopes down to the creek.  It’s a very serene setting.  Finding such a perfect site was a key factor in the group’s success.  They had been looking at sites a little farther away, when Stacia happened to meet a woman who owned a 20-acre lot that was just a few minutes’ walk from the village centre and yet tucked away in a private forest setting.  When they heard she was willing to sell it, they were ecstatic.

They set up a website to find other people who shared their vision and had similar values (i.e., of celebrating diversity, respecting privacy, protecting the environment, being active participants in the community, etc.).  They worked with architects to translate their vision into a concrete set of plans and set about seeking the necessary approvals to start building.  “We had to deal with 5 or 6 government departments,” Gary recalled.  “Each one wanted a different study done.  We also worked with the Sechelt Nation to make sure there were no cultural or archaeological impediments to developing the land.  Clearing all those hurdles cost us a lot of time and money.”  Fortunately, they had a cohousing consultant who was able to help them navigate the hurdles and keep the process from getting bogged down.  “The project would have died a natural death if we had not hired Ronaye Matthew,” Gary said. 

As I walked around, I could see that the community was designed to fit naturally into its surroundings and to preserve as much of the natural habitat as possible.  Gary told me that they made a covenant with The Land Conservancy to protect the trees and other natural features.  The community’s commitment to living sustainably and being connected to nature is reflected in everything it does: sharing meals, growing its own vegetables, carpooling, and so on.  Also, some of the residents are leading activists in the wider community’s forest conservation movement.

The importance of social connection

The thing that interested me most about the cohousing community was the importance it places on social connection.  We live in a society where personal contact is being replaced by institutional associations and excessive ‘screen time’.  Medical science has confirmed that social isolation is just as bad for our health as smoking or obesity.  Psychiatrists are now talking about ‘an epidemic of loneliness’.  And governments (which only a couple of years ago were promoting ‘social distancing’) are now urging people to become more socially connected.  The UK government has even gone so far as to appoint a Minister of Loneliness.  This new awareness of the importance of social connection has also spurred a renewed interest in cohousing.  The Canadian Cohousing Network reports that 26 new cohousing projects are currently being developed.  Thirteen of them are here in BC.  They all have the same goal: to create a neighbourhood in which the neighbours all know each other and have regular opportunities to interact socially.

An important feature of Robert Creek Cohousing is its belief in diversity – the belief that peace and happiness can only be achieved by embracing racial, cultural and other differences.  Also, it believes in maintaining a multi-generational mix of residents.  Recently, when one of the houses came up for sale, a few of the residents came together to help the family with two children who had been renting that house, by lending them money for the mortgage downpayment. 

The community’s devotion to its core values is a key reason why it has a long waiting list of people wanting to move in.  Mary Bragg, who purchased one of the houses a few years ago, told me how thrilled she is to live there: “I love being able to do things with the neighbourhood kids; and I love the fact that the people here come from so many different backgrounds.”

The consensus process

I was curious to learn how such a diverse community is able to avoid conflict and resolve whatever issues come up.  “We use the consensus process,” Gary explained, “and it works surprisingly well.”  If someone wishes to raise an issue or propose an idea to the community, a meeting is held and every household can come and discuss it.  If there is disagreement, then those who disagree are asked to put forward their alternative proposal.  By following this process, the community eventually reaches a consensus.  An example Gary cited was the community’s recent decision to chip in and hire a site manager.  (Remarkably, all the maintenance work before then had been done by volunteer work parties.)  “It went really smoothly,” he said, “and there was very little dissent.”  No doubt, as with every community, this one, too, has had conflicts and strong disagreements.  But the fact that, after 20 years, a strong spirit of cooperation still pervades the community is a testament to the commitment, goodwill and tolerance of the residents. 

Conclusion

In this world of increasing social isolation, cohousing is an appealing paradigm of how one can be a private homeowner and at the same time be part of a healthy, interactive community.  And the success of the Roberts Creek community proves that it can stand the test of time.  It is not a panacea – it may not be appealing for those who prize solitude or are fiercely independent.  Also, the creation of a cohousing community is not as affordable as it used to be, due to the spiralling cost of land and materials.  But if more people could become aware of its benefits, and if governments could invest in it as a desirable option, there is no doubt that it would be a positive step towards making our world a better place to live.

The good news, of course, is that, even if we don’t live in a cohousing community, we can still apply its values to our lives.  We can live sustainably, celebrate our diversity and make an effort to reach out and connect more frequently with the people around us.