Cohousing Projects Increasing Nationwide

Land has been purchased for what will be Oakland's fourth cohousing project, a collection of about 33 housing units with an underlying purpose of cooperation and community. Similar community housing projects are cropping up across the country.

1 minute read

December 12, 2006, 5:00 AM PST

By Nate Berg


"There are now about 5,000 people living in 93 cohousing communities in 21 states. California, with 43, has the most, followed by Washington (17) and Massachusetts (16). In Northern California, cohousing communities have sprung up in Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, Morgan Hill, Pleasant Hill, San Mateo, Cotati, Davis and elsewhere. A hundred more are in various stages of the formation process -- two of the most recent in Grass Valley (Nevada County) and Fresno."

"'At first,' recalls cohousing architect Charles Durett, who lives with his family in a 34-unit cohousing community in Nevada City, 'we had to fight hard just to get our cohousing projects built. I had a police chief look me in the eye once and say, 'Hey, Chuck, multi-family housing equals crime.' '"

Sunday, December 10, 2006 in The San Francisco Chronicle

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

June 18, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Rendering of Shirley Chisholm Village four-story housing development with person biking in front.

San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning

SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.

June 8, 2025 - Fast Company

Woman and young girl looking at subway map, woman pointing.

Can We Please Give Communities the Design They Deserve?

Often an afterthought, graphic design impacts everything from how we navigate a city to how we feel about it. One designer argues: the people deserve better.

June 9, 2025 - John Pobojewski

Close-up of cracked and damaged two-lane roadway with double yellow stripes on a bright sunny day.

Engineers Gave America's Roads an Almost Failing Grade — Why Aren't We Fixing Them?

With over a trillion dollars spent on roads that are still falling apart, advocates propose a new “fix it first” framework.

June 19 - Transportation for America

Group of e-scooters messily parked on street in London with black cab in background.

The European Cities That Love E-Scooters — And Those That Don’t

Where they're working, where they're banned, and where they're just as annoying the tourists that use them.

June 19 - Bloomberg CityLab

Map of Western U.S. indicating public lands that would be for sale under a Senate plan in yellow and green.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands

For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

June 19 - Outdoor Life