Sunward Cohousing

"Sunward redirects here. For the company manufacturing model rockets, a trebuchet, a catapult, and hobby products, see Sunward Aerospace Group Limited."

Sunward Cohousing is an intentional community located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. Sunward's founders were pioneers in bringing the cohousing model to Michigan, and they faced a series of challenges, eventually convincing municipal authorities and financial institutions that their experiment in social cooperation could be a viable endeavor.

Demographics

The community is made up of 40 individual households including single individuals, couples, single parents, young families with children, empty nesters, and unrelated adults, ranging in age from infants to octogenarians. Sunward's members, around 65 adults and 25 children, have a variety of cultures, races, religious and spiritual preferences, sexual orientations, and educational and occupational backgrounds. Being an intergenerational village is an important design goal of the community. Members are known as Sunwardians.

History

Sunward has its origins in 1993 when Susan Cameron, Donna White and other founders began to discuss how to bring cohousing to Ann Arbor, inspired by successful efforts outside of Michigan. In January 1994, Nick Meima and other key players invited Kathryn McCamant, the architect who popularized the cohousing model in the U.S., to Ann Arbor to conduct a cohousing workshop. Inspired by her workshop, a group began meeting regularly to establish criteria for site selection. The Sunward site was discovered in July 1995 on the edge of Ann Arbor in Scio Township. An initial purchase offer was refused because the landowners did not like the cooperative living ideas espoused by the group. In December 1995 a new offer was made and accepted. The early members became developers by forming a limited liability corporation called Ann Arbor Alpha. An architectural firm, Sunstructures Architects, was selected in June 1996. Kathryn McCamant and her partner Charles Durrett conducted two workshops to help members design the site plan and Common House.

The land sale closed in November 1996. The group then began searching for a builder. The core membership group reached 22 households in December 1996. A final site plan was approved in January 1997, and the group grew to 28 households. A builder, Phoenix Contractors, Inc., was selected in February 1997. By May 1997, 36 households were committed, and unit pricing and selections were made. Construction began May 22, 1997. The community was fully subscribed with 40 households by August 1997. By April 1998, the first homes were certified for occupancy, and community members began to move in. Construction was completed in November 1998, a date the community annually celebrates as its anniversary.

The success of Sunward later prompted the creation of two more independent cohousing communities in the area, [http://www.gocoho.org Great Oak] and [http://www.touchstonecohousing.org Touchstone] .

Vision and Values

The following published statements describe the foundation around which the community operates.

Vision:

A residential community in which the members share and work together to create a safe, joyful, and satisfying life. This includes:
* Dealing with diversity of opinions, expectations and life experience
* Learning to discern, respect and balance the differences between individual desires and collective good
* Creating a beautiful legacy for future generations

Core Values:

These commitments guide actions and decisions.
* Care for each other and our environment
* Engage in dialogue to seek clarity and build connections
* Collaborate to find solutions

Land

Sunward is situated on 20 acres (eight hectares) of land with diverse features. A ten-acre mature oak and hickory woods contains paths, a nature study area, hidden hammocks, and rolling hills, and it forms a large, common "backyard" to the north of the tightly clustered homes. This area is used for relaxation, recreation, and retreat in all seasons.

Two ponds, part of a tributary system of Honey Creek, with a footbridge and an earthen dam between them, lie to the south of the homes. They are used for skating in the winter. In warmer weather they are home to numerous waterfowl, including great blue herons. Several acres of prairie have been tended as a native prairie restoration project. A large playfield hosts kid-league soccer matches and other recreational activities.

The built and paved area of about five acres (two hectares) in the middle of the site was formerly a backfilled gravel pit. Sunward's founders chose to build tightly clustered homes on this land, conserving green and open space, and leaving the woods and natural features mostly intact.

Built Environment

Sunward's architecture was designed to encourage spontaneous interactions and strengthen the interpersonal connections that are the lifeblood of the community. The structures, in addition to the Common House, include 40 individually-owned housing units in a range of sizes and layouts spread across nine buildings, several garages individually owned by some households, a large barn built in the woods during the 1910s, and assorted sheds.

The design attempts to balance community life and personal privacy. The community layout and homes were designed with the concept of a privacy gradient, where privacy increases as one goes toward the back of the house. For example, sitting on one's front porch is an invitation to socialize, while sitting on the back porch does not. Kitchen windows are in the front of every house.

As a pedestrian community, Sunward restricts motor vehicles to the eastern periphery of its land, allowing members to visit and children to play in safety on its paths. Shared handcarts for moving material are kept at several locations around the campus.

Sunward's legal structure states that homes are privately owned inside, up to the paint on the interior walls, while the community owns the rest of the structure and everything outside the home.

Community Life

The Common House

The Common House is the heart of Sunward community life, where members cook, eat, play, hang out, celebrate, meet, host events, and work together. It is an extension of their individual homes, and it allows residents to live in smaller private homes than they otherwise might need.

The Common House includes a large kitchen, a dining room, a living room, children’s play spaces, a game room, a teen room, a meeting room, professional offices, an exercise room, guest rooms, a video theater, a laundry room, and a large workshop. U.S. mailboxes and internal mail "cubbies" are located in the Common House, providing Sunwardians daily opportunities to interact with each other. Outside the Common House are the centers of summer community life: spacious wooden decks and a large brick piazza. Spontaneity and serendipity play a major role in building and maintaining community relationships. The common laundry room is available to all Sunwardians. A team of members cleans the Common House.

hared Meals

Shared Common House meals are a central and defining aspect of the community. They provide a regular opportunity to keep in touch with one's neighbors, deepen relationships, and work together while making the meal and cleaning up afterwards. Dinners take place 3-4 times a week. Each month every member does roughly two shifts as assistant cook or cleanup crew, or one shift as head chef. The head chef determines the menu and overall cost of the dinner. A vegetarian option is typically available. In addition to the dinner program, a variety of spontaneous breakfasts, potlucks, and cookouts occur. Residents decide for themselves the level at which they wish to participate.

Governance

The Sunward community is managed by its members, who collectively hold decision-making authority. Community decisions are made by consensus, which requires the active and responsible participation of members. Community Meetings take place monthly in the Common House. A quorum of at least 21 households must be present to make decisions. The "Sunward Book of Agreements" is the official collection of all standing agreements that the community has made. Although the entire community retains the authority to make major decisions, much of the day-to-day business is delegated to standing committees and "ad hoc" work groups. These fall into five main areas: leadership, community life, Common House operations, buildings and infrastructure, and land management.

Work

Most of the work needed to run Sunward is done by the members and is organized in both formal and informal ways. To insure smooth community functioning, necessary maintenance work is broken into small monthly job allocations on a task schedule. These tasks are then distributed among all members. Examples include plowing snow, facilitating meetings, tending trees, managing finances, mopping floors, etc. As much as possible, people are able to choose work they enjoy doing. Many other efforts that help the community to thrive are done on a volunteer basis.

Children

Children play a central role in the life of the community. Members tend to be watchful and keep an eye on nearby children, playing or intervening as appropriate. Children can safely run, bike, and skate in the pedestrian campus. They can use the extensive outdoor play areas, as well as the kids-, teen-, and game-rooms inside the Common House. Children at Sunward get to know all or most of their neighbors, often developing close relationships with non-family members and ease in conversing with adults. Parents and non-parents often cooperate in child care. Children are encouraged but not required to participate in the work of the community.

External links

* [http://www.sunward.org/ Sunward Cohousing official web site]
* [http://directory.ic.org/ Directory of Intentional Communities]
* [http://fic.ic.org/ Fellowship for Intentional Community]
* [http://www.cohousing.net/ Cohousing Association]
* [http://communities.ic.org/ Communities magazine]

References

* McCamant, K. and C. Durrett. "CoHousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves, 2nd Edition". Ten Speed Press. 1994.
* Christian, Diana Leafe. "Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities". New Society Publishers. 2003.
* Sunward Cohousing. "Prospective Member Information Packet". 2005.