Page 8 - C.A.L.L. #35 - Fall 2012

Interview with Ann Zabaldo: A discussion with a

leading voice in the U.S. cohousing movement.

Residents of cohousing communities live in private homes but create a communal
lifestyle of shared meals, childcare, social activities and neighborly support. Members
are deeply involved in the design and management of their community, investing both
money and time for weekly meetings during the years it takes to develop the property
and subsequently to ensure it runs smoothly. The village-like community model,

imported to the States from Denmark in the 1980s, has since spread from Northern
California to New England.

When it reached Zabaldo in 1991, cohousing gave a name and form to the group-housing
arrangement she’d shared with friends since college. A business entrepreneur,

Zabaldo’s true passion was neighborhood organizing; she plunged into the cohousing
movement and never looked back. Currently there are 120 cohousing communities
nationwide, and 80 more in progress. Zabaldo was on the development team for two of
them, including Takoma Village Cohousing in Washington, D.C., where she now lives.
Zabaldo was a founding board member and served as president of the Cohousing

Association of the United States and co-founded Mid-Atlantic Cohousing, a regional
nonprofit organization. Now aged 60, Zabaldo is busy developing two new communities
through her firm Cohousing Collaborative.

What does “responsibility” mean to someone living in cohousing?

Cohousing is the ultimate example of responsibility. People take on responsibility for
each other and the community as a whole. And the community owns a lot of common

property together. I open my front door and I say not only is this home mine - this
whole community is mine. People feel responsible for the raising of children - even
people who don’t have kids. Our elderly get what they need. Somebody mentions to me,
“I need to get to the doctor and I don’t have a car,” and I say, “Here are my keys. Take

the car.”

Is taking on that kind of daily responsibility mandatory?

Totally voluntary - none of this is written down - but it comes as part of the
expectation. You wouldn’t come to cohousing unless you were willing to become a good

neighbor.

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