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Co-housing project on Main Street in Vancouver approved with affordable units

A minor residential project approved by Vancouver City Council on Tuesday evening is drawing attention for its unique co-housing model. ‘Tomo House’, designed by Marianne Amodio Architecture Studio, is located at a 6,700-sq-ft lot at 5809-5811 Main Street – just one block south of 41st Avenue. It is a partnership between Tomo Spaces Inc., the …

OUV in the Media

Infusing equity into the World Happiness Report

The 2018 Global Happiness Policy Report is out. This time, the report contains practical solutions for governments and cities interested in boosting wellbeing. We were thrilled to be asked to contribute to this report as part of the sub-council on Happy Cities. We are proud to say that we were able to infuse the report …

OUV in the Media

‘Cohousing lite’ enters the Vancouver housing conversation

James Chamberlain grew up in a rural area outside Abbotsford, while his husband, Jean-Marie Russell, was raised in a small town in northern Quebec. They’ve lived in Vancouver for decades — for the past 20 years in a strata property they own in a three-unit complex near Vancouver General Hospital. But the neighbourhood has changed …

OUV in the Media

What’s behind the Tomo name of a new Vancouver cohousing project

On February 1, the public will get a chance to learn more about a new cohousing project in Vancouver. It’s called the Tomo House, and it’s proposed to be developed at the southwest corner of Main Street and Ontario Place. Tomo stands for ‘together more’, and according to the developer working with a group of …

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Main Street “co-housing light” project aims to bring residents together

A unique housing project dubbed “co-housing light” is proposed for the corner of Main Street and Ontario Place, between East 41st and 42nd avenues. Tomo House will have 12 residential units, four of which will be “affordable ownership” units, as well as nine parking spaces and 15 bicycle parking stalls. The project aims to bring …

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Making connections

Seeking a stronger sense of community, 10 Vancouver families are working on plans for an ‘urban village’ project that will be much more than just another condo James Chamberlain and his partner live in a perfectly nice triplex near Vancouver General Hospital, a home many people in Vancouver would aspire to. But the lack of connections …

Kathy Sayers: creating an interconnected cohousing community

This past month, I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Kathy Sayers in her bright and comfortable condo to talk about her experiences with cohousing in Vancouver. In the past few years, Kathy has been working alongside her community at Our Urban Village to integrate a successful cohousing community into the urban space …

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Prospective home owners adopt ‘cohousing lite’ model

Mike Lang is accustomed to small apartments with exorbitant rental and purchase prices — he recently returned to Vancouver from living in Hong Kong, one of the most expensive cities in the world. So while he and his wife Cherie consider the recent acceleration in the city’s housing market “ridiculous” and not in any way …

OUV in the Media

How to raise a family in 600 Sq Ft

Can you really raise kids in a one-bedroom condo? Some Vancouver parents are trying—and guess what? It’s not all bad, and it could get better. Three years ago, Alison Mazurek and her husband, Trevor, were awaiting the birth of their first child. Living in a 600-square-foot, one-bedroom condo in Mount Pleasant, the pair weighed the …

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Vancouverites aim to create co-housing space within a condo tower

We all know that feeling of riding up an elevator in uncomfortable silence with strangers, then walking along a claustrophobic corridor to get to someone’s apartment. It’s only when you’re inside the door that you can really relax. But what if you could live in a building where even the public space was welcoming? Where …

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