Frog Song

  • Community
  • 2 followers

About the Community

  • Established
  • Urban

What we do

Our community is a part of downtown Cotati, California (population 6,700). We are a typical cohousing community in that we are not organized around any particular religious, economic, political, or lifestyle focus, other than our intention to create a neighborhood that by its physical design and social structure facilitates community.

Our community houses 30 families (including singles, couples with and without children, and single parents) in townhouse-style attached homes. Our common house includes a kitchen, dining room, guest rooms, children’s room, and a workshop.

We’re a little different from many cohousing communities in that we were required by the city of Cotati to include 6700 square feet of retail space as part of our development. We decided to keep ownership of this retail space as a community. We now live next door to a handful of small businesses, which are locally owned.

Community dinners and workdays are a part of our lives. Our key policy decisions are made by consensus, and we meet once monthly for two-hour business and community-development meetings.

Our group formed out of the old Acacia Cohousing Group in Santa Rosa, California, a group which started meeting in November of 1994. The current group came together in the late summer/early fall of 1998, and in January 2000 we found a 2.3 acre parcel of land in downtown Cotati. With the help of the Cohousing Company (Nevada City, California), and our developer, Wonderland Hill (Boulder, Colorado), construction was completed and residents began moving into their new homes in 2003.

Our Vision

Cohousing Community

Our Mission

Cohousing Community

  • Community type
  • Cohousing

Gallery

  • 67 Total members
  • Not open to new members
  • Open to visitors
  • Open to volunteers
Total
67

How to join

Open when homes come up for sale or rent.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

Please contact us through our email (listed on our website) to arrange a visit or tour. We cannot accommodate “Drop-in” visitors, so please visit only after you’ve made arrangements with us.

Primary decision-making authority

  • All Community Members Together

The whole membership decides collectively.

Governance structure

  • Collaborative/Horizontal

Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.

Economic model

  • Independent Finances

Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • Members need to pay fees, dues, or similar to live there on a per month or per year basis
  • There is a labor obligation
  • Members typically need to have their own job or other personal source of income to cover their expenses while living in the community?

Additional economic information

Monthly fees/dues: Yes (amount not specified)
Labor required: 3 hours/week
Members with pre-existing debt: Yes
Each household qualifies for their mortgage independent from the rest of the community.

Members are required to help cook at least once a month, participate in work days, and serve on at least one committee.

Homeowner’s Association dues vary by size of home (sizes range from 2 bedrooms/1 bathroom to four bedrooms/3 bathrooms).

Shared resources and amenities that are accessible to everyone in the community

Common House, Garden(s), Library, Workshop, Hot tub or hot springs, Large Scale Kitchen, Swingsets & play areas, Internet

Frequency of communal meals

  • 2-5 times per week

Substance use culture

  • Substance use occurs primarily at celebrations or ceremonies
  • Religions
  • Buddhist
  • Jewish
  • Wiccan, Paganism, or Earth Religions
  • Unitarian Universalist

Property status

  • Privately owned

Property owner

  • By a single individual, couple, or Family Trust

Setting

  • Urban

Within city limits with access to urban amenities and infrastructure.

Self-produced energy

  • Up to 33%

Energy sources used

  • Photovoltaic Solar

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%
  • Land area size
    2.3 acres

Reviews

Location

  • California, United States

Promoted Needs and Offers

Need
Need
  • Communities with Openings
6 months ago

Join us in the mountains of Western North Carolina

Coweeta Heritage Center/Talking Rock Farm is located in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Coweeta is located in a beautiful and diverse temperate rain forest. It feels very remote here yet we are just 12 miles from Franklin, NC. Winters can be mild. Coweeta is blessed with springs and a stream, pristine forests, and abundant wildlife. Power is provided by a hydro-electric system which is not connected to the grid. An organic garden and trout pond provide healthy food that is also shared with the local community. Hiking, kayaking, and other outdoor activities are just out the back door. Coweeta is looking for others who would like to join together to form an Intentional Community embracing the principles of Voluntary Simplicity. Simply put (no pun intended): We wish “to live simply so that others may simply live.” It is a recognition that nature provides us with valuable services and resources that we can use to enrich our lives. Utilizing local resources, appropriate technology, and working cooperatively, we can discover creative ways to meet our needs as “directly and simply as possible.”. An example of this, in the tradition of many Indigenous People”, is to gather, and use wildcrafted foods as part of our diet. There is great joy in going to nature’s grocery for our sustenance. Voluntary Simplicity is based on the recognition that “very little is needed to live well” and that “abundance is a state of mind.” Living lower on the economic ladder allows us more time and freedom to pursue other life goals: community and social engagement, family time, artistic or intellectual projects, more fulfilling employment, political participation, sustainable living, spiritual exploration, and more. According to the Voluntary Collective, “The grounding assumption of Voluntary Simplicity is that all human beings have the potential to live meaningful, free, happy and infinitely diverse lives while consuming no more than an equitable share of (the world’s) resources.” We affirm the need for a work/life balance, the right to a healthy environment and healthy food, and healthy community relationships supporting a diverse population. It is our responsibility as engineers of a new generation to make the changes that we want to see happen and pass this on to the next generations. We can’t wait for someone else to do this important work. Voluntary Simplicity is a quiet revolution that can change the world. As one person said, “we must be poets of our own lives and of a new generation.” We hope you will join us here at Coweeta or elsewhere on our journey to a healthier and more sustainable future! Temporary housing is available in a 27 foot trailer trailer with attached deck next to a creek while we build additional housing. Your basic living expenses (shelter, basic food items, power and water) are met through our market garden or other fundraising projects that you will participate in. You are expected to contribute a given amount of your time and energy to help grow our community and meet our financial obligations. Possible future plans include establishing a retreat center for healing our earth and each other. Work includes organic gardening, construction projects and other community building activities. Come join Coweeta and learn how to live lightly on the land and enjoy the Earth’s bounty! For more information, visit www.coweetaheritagecenter.com Contact [email protected] for a visit or more info.  Paul
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