Tell me more about cohousing

Send us a message! In Episode 77   Lynn and Kelli talk about how they have improved their approach to engaging and converting " Explorers ", a step along the way for interested future cohousers to consider if this might be the right community for them. A big turning point in their approach was precipitated by engaging Shelly Parks at CoVision Consulting . Lynn describes how the weekly co...

Send us a message! In Episode 76   Lynn reflects on a very fresh and personal learning about what deep listening looks like, and how that can transform the conversation and the relationship. Together, Kelli and Lynn process this experience and discuss how building relationships and solving people issues is different than working on business problems. People challenges take more time and the soluti...

Send us a message! In Episode 75   a special guest, Gretchen, a kid who has lived in cohousing and is part of the forming community here in Houston, talks to Kelli Soika about the experience of moving into cohousing as young child and growing up in community. They look at aspects of how community shaped Gretchen's life as well as their family.   Listen in to find out more about our conversati...

Send us a message! In Episode 74   Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika interview Janet Murphy, member of Arboretum Cohousing in Madison, Wisconsin. Janet has lived there since everyone moved in 14 yrs ago this fall. It’s multigenerational, comprising   40 households, 90 people, about 20 children. . We talked about the car share program, called CoCar, that she spearheaded getting organized for her commun...

Send us a message! In Episode 73   Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika interview Jim Leach , president of Wonderland Hill Development Company. He has led the company in developing over 20 cohousing communities in Colorado, California, Arizona, and Washington. He is a builder with over 50 years of experience in the design, construction and development of sustainable, planned neighborhoods. We talk about...

Send us a message! In Episode 72   Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika interview Carolyn White, a member of our community and active participant on the Landscaping Team. We talk about:  How their team is designing for connection and sustainability. How they are incorporating the principles of  One Health   The Landscaping mission that is guiding their planning: " Landscape Team will guide the CoHou...

Send us a message! In Episode 71   Lynn Morstead interviews Darren Vandenberg, a recent joiner of a forming cohousing community in Melbourne, Australia, called Brougham Street CoHousing . He contacted us after listening to our podcast, so we invited him to join the conversation from across the globe. We talk about:  How "caravanning" in Australia lead him to seek community in cohousing J...

Send us a message! In Episode 70   Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika interview Rachel Claret , one of the community's newer members. Rachel talks about her path to cohousing and the signals along the way that made it very clear to her that this was the right next move for her. Listen in to find out more about our conversation, or register for one of our upcoming Zoom information sessions at htt...

Send us a message! In Episode 69   Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika hold a conversation about what life is like in a cohousing community over the summer months.  Summer rites of passage (graduations, returning from college) Summer holidays from Memorial Day to July 4th to Labor Day Leaving your home for a longer trip Activities with kids Gardening Celebrations and traditions Participating in other...

Send us a message! In Episode 68   Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika hold a conversation about the paradigm shift in how we decide where to live. Cohousers prioritize community versus location or design, which is a novel concept here in Houston, Texas. They conclude that cohousing holds open the space of considering the value of community and people often tie this concept back to something they know...

Send us a message! In Episode 67   Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika continue their conversation about consensus decision making by bringing in an acknowledged expert, Laird Schaub, an author and coach whose involvement with the Foundation for Intentional Community has made him a leading expert in the field.  The discussion begins with an explanation of cooperative culture and how it compares to a c...

Send us a message! In Episode 66   Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika talk about how an idea becomes an agreement using a consensus process. Broken down into 5 steps, Lynn and Kelli talk about how a small group and the plenary work together to find common ground. They cover: Step 1- Defining the case for action Step 2- Collecting criteria and listening to the community. Step 3- Working out an agreeme...

Send us a message! Finally moving in after 5 years of planning and hard work! Village Hearth CoHousing resident, Margaret Roesch visits with Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika. They discuss the triumphs, surprises, connections, and lessons learned from moving into a new cohousing community. Listen in to find out more.  Let us know if you have any questions by emailing us at info@cohousinghouston.com...

Send us a message! In Episode 64 Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika discuss what they've observed about Explorers , who join their community to determine whether this is the right thing for them.  They talk about the clarifying experience for so many Explorers, when they take their due diligence seriously. They figure out their next move. Sometimes it's cohousing in Houston and other times...

Send us a message! In Episode 63   Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika interview our member Jan Van Louizen  about rank-choice voting and other methods that assist consensus decision making. They cover: What is rank-choice voting and how does it work. Where it is useful in a cohousing community where consensus decision-making is normally the approach Examples of where this has been used in CoHousing H...

Send us a message!  In Episode 62   Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika interview the Treasurer, Kip Krause, about his role in our development project. They cover: The responsibilities covered and how these are shared with the developer. What tasks are outside of the Treasurer role. How this role works with the Finance, Legal and Development (FLD) team. What skills are required. What are some of the l...

Send us a message!  In Episode 61   Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika pick up the topic of kids in cohousing.  They cover: How to involve kids in shared work How they transition from small tasks into becoming part of the conversation How kids raised in cohousing find their voice in adult groups more quickly through more frequent encounters and the ability to sit in on more adult conversations How th...

Send us a message!  In Episode 60   Lynn Morstead interviews our member, Carolyn White, about her journey through many different community experiences starting with an extended family compound on a lake in Michigan, to a Kibbutz in Israel, to field projects in Death Valley, to a cooperative vegetarian restaurant in Minneapolis and now landing in CoHousing Houston.  Carolyn talks about: The steps a...

Send us a message! In Episode 59   Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika give an introduction to CoHousing Houston.  We cover what we typically share in one of our public Zoom information sessions: How we're organized under the CoHousing Houston LLC The composition of the membership Our timeline How we do work together and make decisions Our plans for green building and sustainable living Key facts a...

Send us a message!  In Episode 58   Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika interview one of our podcast listeners who reached out to us earlier this year.  Nick Michelsen, a fire fighter in Edmonton, Canada, started listening to our podcast after reading about a new cohousing community in Edmonton.  He was curious what else he could find about cohousing in a podcast search on " cohousing ".  Our...

Send us a message!  In Episode 57  Kelli Soika interviews our member, Susan Daniels, about her path to joining CoHousing Houston. Susan talks about how she strives to align her values with her financial priorities, and how cohousing fits very well into her vision and plans for her life. A companion podcast to this one is Episode 56 - The pesky price per square foot question , which talks about wit...

Send us a message!  In Episode 56  Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika talk about the pesky "price per square foot" question that comes up when people attempt to evaluate a cohousing purchase based on the price per square foot alone. They talk about the tangible and intangible factors that may be overlooked or hard to quantify when making such a direct comparison. This podcast also links to Ep...

Send us a message!  In Episode 55  Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika talk about some of the challenges and benefits of making consensus based decisions. The inspiration for this topic came from Lynn's participation in a 5-week training course on Consensus for Cooperative Groups , hosted by the Foundation for Intentional Communities being taught by Laird Schaub. This comes after the first week cla...

Send us a message!  In Episode 54  Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika interview Nancy Rielle , who we met earlier this year when her cross-country "Intergenerational Cohousing Walkabout" brought her to Texas.  We talk about How this journey started What was the plan, and how did COVID redefine things How did the different communities along the way respond to her request to visit What are her...

Send us a message! Listen to Eye On Houston 's interview of Kelli and Lynn on Audacy Houston's weekly Public Affairs program. Eli Escobar interviewed  Kelli Soika and Lynn Morstead from Co-Housing Houston. A new residential community concept is set to break ground in the thriving and historic East End Houston.  A cohousing community is intended to provide its residents unique benefits, s...