Would you share a kitchen with your neighbors? A unique housing development with a community of mixed ages and backgrounds, who share many common resources, has just welcomed its first home owners in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada. The 30 condo homes (1-3 bedrooms), have the shared use of a 5000 sq. ft. “common building” and common garden and forest spaces. The three level common building includes a large Kitchen / Dining area, Library, Gym and Workshop plus a guest room. This is in addition to your own kitchen in your condo.
Its a little difficult to imagine how this will work going forward, since it is very dependent upon the personalities of the Co-owners, but it is a noble experiment, that encourages the neighbors to get to know each other in a much closer / co-operative way than traditional neighborhoods do. It is organized around the Dutch Sociocracy theory of governance that seeks to create psychologically safe environments and productive organizations. It draws on the use of consent, rather than majority voting, in discussion and decision-making by people who have a shared goal or work process.
The current members seem to be a nice cross section of young families, single people, middle aged and seniors. There must be at least one person under the age of 40, in order to purchase a home here.
At Treehouse, they have committed to the below as per their website:
Communicating in ways that are honest and transparent, while doing our best to be courteous and considerate, welcoming and inclusive, compassionate and empathetic.
Contributing in ways that enrich the social fabric and physical space of our community and that encourage each other to share our varied gifts, abilities, and insights while also recognizing our own needs.
Collaborating in ways that are intentional and where challenges and disagreements are met with curiosity, openness, and the understanding that we are all learning together.
Caring for ourselves, our neighbours, and our earth; while celebrating diversity, offering hospitality, living lightly, and being grateful on our journey.
And…together we create a community, a village we can call home.
Conclusion
A bold experiment that will be interesting to monitor as it unfolds. (Treehouse Village)
The closest we have ever come to this in life, is when we travel, many of the rooftop patio’s have a shared BBQ space, for the residents of that building. It can be quite enjoyable to chat with the others about their day of activities, and their upcoming activities. Sometimes we are just having a drink, but sometimes we shared the BBQ, which worked out pretty good in most cases. Choices in music was sometimes a challenge, particularly when the younger generation wanted LOUD terrible music, but we worked it out…
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