There are several questions to ask
yourself before moving into senior cohousing.
Start by asking yourself what attracts you about
senior cohousing.
The same type of senior housing (or senior cohousing community) that is right for one retired person may not be right for the next one.
Think about cohousing for a few minutes. How do you determine if cohousing is a good place for you to spend the rest of your life?
You are old enough to know that no situations or relationships are perfect. But everyone has concerns about those matters and some of those concerns are very important issues. Yet we often get bogged down by inconsequential issues that are really of no great importance to us.
The first step in determining if cohousing is right for you, then, is to prepare questions about the really important issues in your life while preparing to let less important items slide.
Now that you have narrowed your list down to your major issues, the second step is to go to meetings and ask questions about them.
Listen to the answers, of course, but just as important, watch the body language of people who are not responding. This will help you to avoid disparities between your wishes and those of the others who will share your life.
The following are some examples of questions you might ask yourself.
1. What
attracts you about living in cohousing?
Social times, shared meals, vegetable
gardening, cooking, working in the shop, more free time, less free time...
2. The support system of cohousing communities is a
wonderful benefit but it is a two-way street. How will you feel about people who
ask for your support or favors?
In a small community people might ask
you for everything from a ride to DFW Airport to watering plants or caring for
pets while they are traveling...
3. Living in cohousing is often described as
up-close and personal. How good are you at establishing your own boundaries
and respecting the privacy and boundaries of others?
Can you both learn to
say "no" to others and take "no" when others say it to
you...
4. Will you enjoy your monthly work time that keeps the community
operational, keeps costs down, and builds friendships?
Although you will
probably have some choice of tasks, it often takes 10-15 hours of your time each
month...
5. How do you handle controlling people and conflict situations?
Do you seethe inside, explode in a temper, argue, walk away, move on to
something else...
6. How will you handle other residents' pets, grandchildren, or other guests?
7. Do you have unusual diet or food preferences?
8. Would you prefer living with all
ages or your own age?
If cohousing is right for you, do you want to live with all ages, including
children, as in intergenerational cohousing, or would you prefer to live with
those who are closer to your own age and probably quieter in senior cohousing...
Senior Cohousing
Hidden Lake Ecovillage
Dallas-Fort Worth
Senior Cohousing Directory
Hidden-Lake
in DFW
Senior Cohousing
in Dallas
Active Lifestyle of Elder
Cohousing
Aging Gracefully in Elder Cohousing
Benefits of Senior Cohousing
Cars, Who Needs Them?
Common Areas in Senior
Cohousing
Costs of Elder Cohousing
Do Rentals Make Sense for Senior
Cohousing?
Ecohousing: Why
Build Green?
Features of Senior Cohousing
Finding a Senior Cohousing
Community
Good Neighbor Information
Hot Spots in Community Decisions
Individual Privacy in Senior Cohousing
Is Senior Cohousing Right for You?
Locate a Senior Cohousing
Community
Make Good Use of Your Common House
Meanwhile, Back at the
Common House
Outdoor Common Areas for Senior Cohousing
Therapeutic Community Gardens for
Seniors
What Kind of Housing Do Seniors Want?
Why Elder Housing?
Seniors and Loneliness
Where
Do Pre-Retirees Want to Live?
Younger Faces
in Senior Cohousing
Senior &
Intergenerational Cohousers Fit
Few Lonely Seniors
in Elder Cohousing
Deciding Where to Live