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 …
Read more ‘Cohousing lite’ enters the Vancouver housing conversation
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 …
Read more What’s behind the Tomo name of a new Vancouver cohousing project
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 …
Read more Main Street “co-housing light” project aims to bring residents together
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 …
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 …
Read more Kathy Sayers: creating an interconnected cohousing community
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 …
Read more Prospective home owners adopt ‘cohousing lite’ model
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 …
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 …
Read more Vancouverites aim to create co-housing space within a condo tower