Common Place Cooperative, Inc.

We are a cooperative housing community with 8 households in a 3-story walk-up near Porter Square, Cambridge. Our urban location is ideal, convenient to shopping, good public schools, universities, public transportation, and bike lanes into Boston. We come to this community as individuals with our own aspirations, values, and experiences. At the same time we recognize that the art of successful life in a cooperative community is dependent upon building healthy capacities for compromise. We seek to live in community, learning from each other, respecting our differences and resolving the inevitable conflicts that will arise from these differences. Kindness, compassion, and respect are the foundation for our interactions. We are committed to engaging in honest, direct, and respectful communication with each other. Many of our members have been here for our history, since 1973, with new members bringing energy and commitment along the way. We’ve raised children together and now most of us are retired, enjoying grandchildren, family visits, travel and social occasions, as well as the cultural life of the city. We share celebrations and support one another through losses. We gather for community events in our common room as well as our beautiful yard and gardens. We have off-street parking for one car per household. Many people stop on their walk to the “T” to smell our roses or choose a book from the Little Free Library. Members own the building and land cooperatively, each household owning shares based on square footage. Shareholders rotate terms serving on the Board of Directors. We work together on committees and projects, including planning, maintenance, gardening, and social events. In our monthly meetings, we share perspectives and concerns, and make decisions by consensus.