Planning for Retirement in Community

Sharon's Story: I didn't take a long time to decide to join Dragonfly. I have fond memories of growing up in a wonderful community, a suburb of Edmonton. Now, my inner-city house is too big, too much work and too old. It's not insulated. And I don’t know my neighbours...renters who come and go.

I’ll retire soon—a chance to redefine who I want to be. I want...pride of owning my own home, summer evenings in the yard, potluck dinners, friends to go for walks with, kids and seniors, neighbours who care,...

A long-time member of Dragonfly told me that people who inquire about cohousing usually come with a list and they want to know if cohousing will give them what they want. After they join, they start to change and to care more about what's best for the community.

When I’m retired, I want a reason to get up in the morning, and I don’t think I’ll find that reason inside me. I think I’ll find it...in my community.

Common Ground and Kinship

Jim's story:

The first stage of my working life was with Outward Bound, an international, non-profit, independent, outdoor education organization. There, I found an immediate kinship with the people that I had never felt with any group.

I have found the same immediate and easy sense of connection with the Dragonfly folks. So easy to find common ground for conversation based on common values. The community-based decision making process which was used at Outward Bound for policy making may appear to be cumbersome to some but it is ultimately the most effective and certainly one that appeals to my own need to maintain influence over the decisions that most impact me.

My two adult childen are based in Virginia and now Boston but they insist that I stay in Calgary to maintain their links to the city where they were born and spent their early years. Dragonfly would give me more than just a place to live but a "family" in the very best sense of the word while I maintain a place in Calgary for my progeny.

Cohousing Community and the Single Parent

Roger Gagne and Shauna Jones, along with Shauna's two teenage sons Caleb and Noah Jones, are part of Calgary's newest cohousing project, Dragonfly Cohousing.

Roger first heard about cohousing during the land search phase by Prairie Sky Cohousing, built in 2003, on Edmonton Trail NE. Roger is attracted to the concept of intentional community where spending time with neighbours whether in work bees, hanging out for a game of chess or else joining in on projects of common interest happens easily on a day-to-day basis.

A life long environmentalist, Roger is also drawn to the positive environmental possibilities in building a community; PassivHaus construction and purchasing of solar panels are more affordable when done together by many households.

It's also possible to live in smaller homes due to the large amount of shared space within the community. There will be guest suites within the Common House so each home doesn't require a spare room for guests. The Common House will also have a dining area and multipurpose rooms so individual homes don't have to have expansive space for hosting large numbers of people. Sharing resources will also cut down on the need for every family to own a lawn mower, power tools or a BBQ.

Roger introduced the idea to his girlfriend, Shauna, in 2010. She came to realize what a difference a community like this could have made in the lives of her sons while they were growing up with a single mother.

"As a single parent I made some difficult choices, often leaving my young sons behind the locked door of my home while I went to work because there was no one to watch over them, and other times taking them to work with me, sometimes sending them to the park or to Burger King on their own to give them something to do. They were often unattended and we had some very difficult times. Children need to be watched over and need to have the comfort and security of knowing someone is there. My boys didn't have that because there was no one.

“In a cohousing community that wouldn’t have happened because the neighbours become more than neighbours, they become extended family. There would have been 36 households with eyes on my children, and 36 households holding them accountable for their behaviours. A community like that would be invaluable in the lives of children who are being raised by a single parent, and invaluable to the parent as well", says Shauna.

Caleb and Noah are now in grades 11 and 12; who knows how long they’ll be home? Regardless, Shauna and Roger are looking forward to being surrounded by a community of friends and neighbours to balance whatever particular mix of family is found behind the door of their home.

Downsizing with a Family of 4

Meet Bryan, an engineer, and Lori, a social worker. They will be moving into the Dragonfly Cohousing development in Crescent Heights upon its scheduled completion in the fall of 2013.

“We’re looking to be part of a more intentional community, where relationships are nurtured, and there’s more opportunity for interaction between neighbours,” Lori says. “That’s probably one of the biggest motivators for us at this time.”

After they move, the Helfenbaums will have a third of their current living space, going from 3,700 square feet of space, including a finished basement, to a four-bedroom co-housing unit with 1,360 square feet of private living space.

As you might expect, the pending move has the Helfenbaums thinking a lot about space efficiency.

“When we moved out to the suburbs, there was certainly a sense of ‘success equals a big house,’ ” says Bryan, 36. “And we’ve come to realize that houses can make use of space very well or very badly, and the house we’re in now has a lot of wasted space.”

The decision to downsize is one the Helfenbaums have been considering for a long time, with a number of factors becoming more pressing over time.

“One of them is that life in the suburbs just wasn’t turning out to really reflect the values that we share,” says Lori, 35. “And it wasn’t really turning out to be the life that we wanted for our children. It’s kind of isolated. And ecologically speaking, we just felt it was hard to justify the space that we take up and the resources that we consume for such a large house for only four people.”

"We long to be part of something bigger; to create a life for our children that embodies shared kindness and regard for our neighbours, environmental responsibility, and respect for the diversity among us," says Lori. 

Are Co-operatives the Future of Business? | Eartheasy Blog

Reposted from Eartheasy.com

Co-operatives are a largely overlooked and misunderstood business model. Even the name is suspect in our culture where the specter of socialism is considered a threat to our dominant business model, Capitalism. But the income inequality and resulting diminished middle class which have emerged over recent decades have been a result of unfettered Capitalism, and perhaps the time has come for us to take a closer look at the benefits of a business model which is competitive, adaptive and community-centric: Co-operatives.

So, what is a co-operative? Read more here

Crescent View write up

From the President's Notebook
in the Feb 2012 issue of The Crescent View
by John McDermid

Dragonfly Co-housing Development 

Two representatives of the Dragonfly Co-housing group presented a very interesting proposal to Traffic and Planning late last year. The development is slated for an awkward parcel of land at 3rd Street and 1st Avenue NE. This steeply sloped site will be the future home of a 36-unit co-housing development. More details will be rolled out in future issues, but visit their very compelling website at www.dragonflycohousing.ca. If you think this housing option may be for you, be prepared to act fast as a significant proportion of the development is already sold.

Interview in Edmonton Journal

Co-housing requires consensus, patience and coloured cards
BY SHEILA PRATT, EDMONTONJOURNAL.COM
NOVEMBER 27, 2011

EDMONTON —When it comes to making group decisions, Zaak Robichaud faced the ultimate challenge — how to get more than a dozen families together to come up with house plans they all liked for a new co-housing project in Calgary.

It helps, says Robichaud, to use consensus cards. At monthly meetings, everyone gets red, green and yellow cards to signal their views. If someone drops a yellow card, that means they have reservations. The issue has be to talked through.

“You can’t just object and walk away, you are obliged to come and help work it out,” Robichaud says.
It works, he says. But you have to be patient.

After two years, the Dragonfly group recently bought a piece of land in central Calgary near Bridgeland, the architectural design is underway and construction will start next year, he says.

That puts them two years away from moving in, so people have to be patient to get into co-housing, says Robichaud.

In this ambitious, $12-million co-housing project with 36 units, the average cost of a condo is $340,000. That will vary with the size of the unit, from one to four bedrooms.

There is an element of risk in co-housing, given that it takes four to five years from start to finish. The longer you carry the land, the more expensive it can be.

On the other hand, acting as their own developer, the group avoids the cost of a middleman, he says. And the risk diminishes as more units are sold.

When half the 36 units were sold, the group had the money to buy land and get design underway.
Robichaud is confident the complex will sell out, since plenty of people are interested in this new model of housing that combines the autonomy of private ownership with some shared space for socializing.
The group decided it wanted a large common space — 5,000 square feet.

So far, families with a total of 15 kids under seven are signed up, along with some seniors, teachers, doctors and professional people.

The group decisions are endless — one big structure or four separate fourplexes? How many elevators, how big a common room, how much energy efficiency?

But all the work is worth it, says Robichaud, who lives with his wife and two children in Calgary’s northwest suburbs.

“Out here the only thing in walking distance is a 7-Eleven convenience store and an Esso gas station. With two small children, we really feel isolated.” Living in co-housing will change all that.

“In co-housing nobody every pays for babysitting,” he says. “We look after each other.”

International Highrise Film Project

Urban living is explored interactively in this National Film Board production called Out My Window.

"one of the world's first interactive 360〫documentaries -- about exploring the state of our urban planet told by people who look out on the world from highrise windows. It's a journey around the globe through the most commonly built form of the last century: the concrete slab residential tower. Meet remarkable highrise residents who harness the human spirit -- and the power of community -- to resurrect meaning amid the ruins of modernism."