Tell me more about cohousing

Send us a message! In Episode 52  Lynn Morstead  & Kelli Soika talk with CoHousing Houston member PD Wadler about his road to cohousing and some of his experiences of cohousing to-date.  PD reflects on the various threads that lead him to this decision, from visiting friends who live in cohousing in Massachusetts, to the difference between a chosen and family of origin and how COVID has awaken...

Send us a message! In Episode 51  Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika take a moment to reflect on the Jan 21, 2022 long-awaited and first in Texas cohousing groundbreaking. Topics we cover are: A short message from one of our esteemed speakers, State Senator Carol Alvorado, District 6 . The highlights of the day The surprises, from glorious weather to huge turnout from near and far  What were the "...

Send us a message! In Episode 50  Lynn Morstead interviews East End resident Roy Lira (President of the Super Neighborhood #63 in the Second Ward, Vice Chair for the Super Neighborhood Alliance, and a director in the East End District) and Diego Degenhart, a senior at Rice University and Community Bridges Fellow at the Kinder Institute. She wanted to learn more about the unique characteristics of...

Send us a message! In Episode 49  Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika interview Margaret Wallace Brown, Director of the City of Houston Planning & Development Department. They discuss urban planning in Houston and how CoHousing Houston fits into the vision for the city.  Topics we cover are: Background on the city's dominant housing options and the uniqueness of cohousing being introduced into...

Send us a message! In Episode 48  Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika interview Sophy Botsford, a 5th year architecture student at Oxford Brookes University , UK about her cohousing project.  Sophy's project is about developing a series of intergenerational cohousing communities in Camden, London designed for the year 2050.  We discuss: The aims of the project: improve mental and physical health, d...

Send us a message! In Episode 47  Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika talk about how you find your way to cohousing. There's a roadmap you can follow that will lead you to cohousing.  Take the first step today by listening to this podcast. They cover: The 5 steps to getting from "Hearing about it" to "Moving in" The Explorer experience for test-driving a community before committ...

Send us a message! Lynn & Kelli are sharing with you an interview conducted by Dr. Kim Swales on her "Connecting with Dr. Kim Swales" podcast with us earlier in the fall. We had a delightful conversation about  Connecting, Community and Cohousing Do you want to learn how to connect and communicate better in your relationships? Dr. Kim Swales and rotating guests will discuss parenting...

Send us a message!  In Episode 45  Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika talk about how their community is structured to support all the activities that constitute the work needed to bring this project to life.  They cover: The current teams, such as Finance, Legal and Development, Process, Marketing, Membership, Neighborhood Engagement, Social and Coordinating Volunteer teams vs. Nominated teams How the...

Send us a message! In Episode 44  Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika talk about the results of an informal survey across cohousing communities in the US on what kinds of things they celebrate.  Some of the cool discoveries they discuss are: Fashion parades Fiddlin’ and pickin’ musical potlucks No-Talent shows Guess who's coming to dinner parties Summer Olympics Hat parties and so much more ... It...

Send us a message! In Episode 43  Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika interview Dr. Stacey Pisklak, a general psychiatrist, with a special interest in connections. Due to technical difficulties during the original recording, this podcast comprises a collection of the golden nuggets we were able to capture interspersed with some post-recording reflections by Lynn and Kelli. Some of the key topic areas th...

Send us a message!  In Episode 42  Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika talk about the hurdles and barriers that people bring up when considering the possibility of cohousing. They also talk about their personal journey in dealing with these challenges. Some of the key topic areas they cover in this episode are: Downsizing - too hard or don't want to let go Overscheduled lives - giving up time for c...

Send us a message! In Episode 41  Lynn Morstead talks to CoHousing Houston member Jim Rosenbach about his road to cohousing and some reflections on how his experience of cohousing to-date relates to prior experiences living in community in the Navy.  Jim and Lynn talk about his learnings and surprises about living in community and some of the aspects of community that he is already experiencing in...

Send us a message! In Episode 40  Kelli Soika talks to CoHousing Houston member, Liz Parker about conflict resolution and how to shift from "fight, flight, or freeze" to a place where conflict is productive and deepens relationships.  They talk about the underlying elements that can cause conflict as well as healthy structures that support relationships including: Conflict is inevitable,...

Send us a message! In Episode 39  Kelli Soika & Lynn Morstead talk to Rosemary, a CoHousing Houston member who has lived in cohousing and chose to move to Houston to be closer to her grandchildren. Rosemary and Kelli talk about how people of different ages live and work together. Some of the dimensions of intergenerational living include: Different ages bring different skills.... And different...

Send us a message! In Episode 38  Kelli Soika interviews CoHousing Houston Member, Steve Stelzer. He brings an interesting perspective on cohousing as a long-time advocate for green living, an architect who believes design can change how people live, and as the Program Director of the Green Building Resource Center at the City of Houston.  Steve walks us through design elements specific to the CoH...

Send us a message!  In Episode 37  Kelli Soika & Lynn Morstead talk about how cohousing increases your ability and the likelihood that you can live out a "Think Globally, Act Locally" approach to life.  Cohousing makes this possible through:  Moving from the aspirational to the actionable Coming together to take on projects you wouldn't be able to do on your own Bringing togethe...

Send us a message! In Episode 36  Kelli Soika & Lynn Morstead talk about one of the 4 P's in community (Pets, Parking, Parenting and Participation). " Participation " is on their minds today.  They ask themselves lots of questions about participation during the formation stages of a community. Not as many answers as usual, so your thoughts in an email (info@cohousinghouston.com)...

Send us a message! In Episode 35  Kelli Soika & Lynn Morstead reflect on the weekend events with the members and explorers. CoHousing Houston held their first community baby shower and first community work day. They talk about how these events were different by having so many different people involved. CoHousing Houston is already experiencing the benefits of a strong community in these areas:...

Send us a message! In Episode 34  Kelli Soika & Lynn Morstead interview Jane Schmitt as part of their quest to gather more perspectives on board structures and sizes. Jane has no cohousing experience other than what she has read about in the Houston press and heard about from two of the founding members of CoHousing Houston, Lynn & Kip. Jane's background: Jane was a VP of Cooper Camer...

Send us a message! In Episode 33  Kelli Soika interviews Katie McCamant, of Cohousing Solutions , about how boards are structured in cohousing and asks her some of the tougher questions our members are asking based on their experience with boards outside of the cohousing world. They cover: Typical cohousing board structures How does a board including all households (aka 'board of the whole&ap...

Send us a message! In Episode 32 Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika talk the importance of professionals in a cohousing development project. They cover: What do we mean by professionals? Organizing help: Cohousing consultant / Developer  Physical Architecture: Architects / Landscape designer Social Architecture: Marketing / Process strategy / Meeting facilitation What are these professionals important?...

Send us a message! In Episode 31 Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika talk about one of the principle tenets of cohousing, the "Everyday Encounter". They cover: What does an everyday encounter look like and feel like. Where are these most likely to happen and when. Why are these so important to our general well being. What aspects of our physical design contribute to making everyday encounters...

Send us a message! In Episode 30 Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika talk about the challenges of marketing a cohousing concept to a traditional buyer. They cover: The "upside down" development nature of a cohousing development. "Trads" vs "rads". Principles for dealing with traditional buyers: Meet people where they are Don't withhold information Keep the conversation...

Send us a message! In Episode 29 Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika interview Clay Zdobylak. Clay covers a lot of ground for us in this interview: Clay has identified a link between communitarianism and cohousing ... we wanted to know what "communitarianism" is and how he he sees aspects of this in cohousing. Wikipedia says: " Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasizes the connecti...

Send us a message! In Episode 28 Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika talk about the value of slowing down in life. We're all thinking about hurricanes this week on the Gulf coast and in our cohousing community we're finalizing our budget. The budget process has been slow and arduous but we've brought it to a solid and well-supported conclusion. At the same time many recent hurricanes have...