Tell me more about cohousing

Send us a message! In Episode 27 Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika talk about the opportunity that cohousing offers to get serious about your aspirations for a better life and actually put these into practice. We often talk about grand ideals, but so often fail to put them into action. Cohousing is a place where things can, and do, really happen: Building an intentional community means showing up ever...

Send us a message! In Episode 26 Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika talk about the "Doing Work Together", one of the 3 keys to cohousing. They talk about the questions that we get asked about the shared work component to living in cohousing. How is it structured? What if I'm not skilled or able? What if people don't participate? Listen in to their conversation to learn more. Let us...

Send us a message!  In Episode 25 Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika interview Katie McCamant from Cohousing Solutions , our cohousing consultant, about the unique aspects of developing a cohousing project. Katie covers a broad range of topics related to launching, organizing, financing and developing a cohousing project based on her 30+ years experience helping cohousing communities come to life.  Kat...

Send us a message! In Episode 24 Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika interview David Kelley, CoHousing Houston member and developer. They cover the role of a developer in a cohousing project, how this is different from a traditional development project and how the 2021 construction world is different than anything he's experienced in his many decades as a developer. David closes this with a message...

Send us a message! In Episode 23 Lynn Morstead interviews Kelli Soika and Rosemary Lowden, current CoHousing Houston members, who have 14 years lived experience in cohousing communities between them. They chat about the essence of the "secret sauce" that is the magical common house at the heart of a cohousing community. Listen in to hear their stories and reflections on how the common ho...

Send us a message!  In Episode 22 Kelli Soika interviews Lynn Morstead about what's been happening since CoHousing Houston received the estimates from the General Contractor. They talk about how the community is dealing with the higher than expected estimates, from an individual and community perspective,  as well as the process steps they are taking to tackle the delta. It's a few minut...

Send us a message! In Episode 21 Lynn Morstead interviews Dee Dishon from Touchstone Cohousing in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dee talks about how she originally came to cohousing 25 years ago in Northern Virginia. She gives us insights into what it took to stick with her first project for the five years it took to get it off the ground. Since then she has moved to Ann Arbor and found cohousing there agai...

Send us a message! In Episode 20 Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika talk about what "shared work" looks like in a cohousing community. Kelli breaks it down into the different types of work and what you can expect from participating in community through working together. Let us know if you have any questions by emailing us at info@cohousinghouston.com. For more information go to: www.cohousi...

Send us a message! In Episode 19 Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika talk about the current phase of their forming community, which is something they are calling "Value Engineering". Let us know if you have any questions by emailing us at info@cohousinghouston.com. For more information go to: www.cohousinghouston.com . 

Send us a message! In Episode 18 Kelli Soika introduces Lynn's stand-in, Gretchen,  who has also lived in cohousing and tells us why she's looking forward to living in cohousing again. They also introduce Lynn's radio spot on NPR in Houston when she called in to talk about her "pet peeve" to the monthly "Houston Matters Pet Peeve" program. She talks about her pet...

Send us a message! In Episode 17 Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika share some of the post-vaccination events now happening face-to-face, or in "3-D" as they call it. They taped several of the community members and explorers answering the question "What is cohousing". They also give a brief overview of the upcoming Summer Explorer Series , which they describe as a compressed, effi...

Send us a message!  In Episode 16 Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika reflect on when and how neighborliness and connections with people are built.  At Kelli's prompting Lynn dialed into Houston's monthly public media spotlight on Pet Peeves and actually got on the show. Her pet peeve is that we seem to only show true neighborliness here in Houston when we have disasters to  contend with. Ke...

Send us a message!  In Episode 15 Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika reflect on all the ways that shared meals contribute to a sense of community and how it appeals to different people for different reasons..  Listen in to find out more.  Let us know if you have any questions by emailing us at info@cohousinghouston.com. For more information go to: www.cohousinghouston.com . 

Send us a message! In Episode 14 Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika talk about the Common House. What is the Common House? What goes on there? How is it managed? Who uses it? What can you expect to experience there as a community member ... and so much more.  Listen in to find out more.  Let us know if you have any questions by emailing us at info@cohousinghouston.com. For more information go to: www...

Send us a message! In Episode 13 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 12 Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika talk about how they are learning to navigate consensus decisions when they are on the other side of an issue from each other.  They use a recent decision about whether there will be gas ranges in their units and/or in the Common House during which they both surprised themselves and shifted after listening to others in the group. List...

Send us a message! In Episode 11 Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika explore what their life would have been like when they had their first child, if they had been living in cohousing instead of a traditional neighborhood. They each made long-lasting life choices about how to handle the working mother challenge at that time, and speculate whether they would have made different choices if they had been...

Send us a message! In Episode 10 Lynn & Kelli interview Bryan Bowen , the architect partnering with Kathleen English on our project, about his "jump" into cohousing. Bryan's interest in the idea of living with others began in his college days but he didn't find an opportunity to make it a reality in his life until his firm began working on a cohousing project. Listen in to...

Send us a message! In Episode 9 Lynn & Kelli talk about the cohousing "Explorer" concept. They walk through the steps to becoming an Explorer, what happens after you've signed up and how the membership works with Explorers to help them figure out whether they want to take the next big step to becoming a member.   Find out whether becoming an Explorer might be something for you....

Send us a message! In Episode 8 Kelli brings up Lynn's most dreaded of topics for her: "downsizing". Even though it strikes fear and trembling into her heart and she spends a lot of time thinking about it and then not acting on it, Kelli moves her forward. Listen to this first in a series where they are going to talk about Lynn's downsizing experience. She has estimated that sh...

Send us a message! In Episode 7 Lynn & Kelli continue the conversation about what it takes to "jump" into cohousing by inviting Shelly Parks, the founder of CoVision Consulting ,  to share her story of jumping into cohousing first as a professional career shift, and then as a personal lifestyle choice. Shelly began seeking ways to use her experience and skills to be a part of the coh...

Send us a message! In Episode 6 we talk about what does it take for you to make a change?  What stops us from changing our status quo to something that would make our life better?   Lynn and Kelli continue their conversation about how we make changes in our lives. Lynn talks about her cohousing "burning platform" drivers and Kelli about her "hold hands and leap" moment with CoH...

Send us a message! In Episode 5 Lynn & Kelli talk about managing change as it relates to cohousing.  They look at what makes change easier and how they are living through this in CoHousing Houston: Familiarity Connection Belonging They explore how a move to cohousing requires us to make a conceptual shift before we make a physical move. It's sometimes called the upside down development pr...

Send us a message! In Episode 4 Lynn & Kelli talk about the 3 types of Frequently Asked Questions they get about the CoHousing Houston specific design: 1 ) What we know already - e.g. elevator access, amenities, Common House design, universal access 2) What we don't know yet because not everyone has arrived - e.g., pets, meal frequency, guest room sign up 3) What we don't know yet be...

Send us a message! In Episode 3 Kelli & Lynn talk about three frequently asked questions related to the concept of cohousing: 1.  Private Homes - Are they really private and how much privacy do you have 2.  What if I don't get along with someone - And what if they don't like me. 3. How is conflict managed - What is different about how conflict arises and is managed inside a cohousing...