How To Join
How to Join
There are five things that you need to consider in joining us to build a successful green Cohousing community.
1) Cohousing Concept:
First, you need to accept the idea of renewing the old-fashioned concept of a traditional neighborhood. You own your home, but you are close to a tightly-knit neighborhood. You design and manage the community with a diverse group of families you have come to know. We encourage you to explore the concept. Read Cohousing, go on the website to focus on the fundamental tenets, visit built communities or visit the sites on line, attend the National Conference this year in Seattle in June, 2009. Over 5000 people live in 110+ Cohousing villages across the country, and the movement is growing.
2) Meet the People:
Altair currently comprises six families, from a single mom, a retired couple, to families with kids. Come to a meeting or social gathering and see for yourself who we are. We are growing, we have many more families waiting in the wings for the site to develop. For now, click on "members" and meet us!
3) Visit the Place:
Kimberton Village, historically a place of home industry and agriculture, is designated as one of the six local villages in the greater Phoenixville area to transform itself in the next decade, per the Regional Plan. We are starting with an open field surrounded by businesses and residences. Read more about the are on Links Kimberton, Chester Co. Needless to say, you must want to live in the Philadelphia area to want to live here -- go to "Our Site" to read more about it.
4) Accept the Price:
Our goal is to provide housing at current market rates, but with the added amenities of community living, green architecture, and net-zero energy. Quite simply, you could not buy something like this anywhere except in Cohousing. We estimate the homes at $200/sq ft, plus a percentage of the grounds and Common House (including guest rooms, offices, dinner hall, and numerous amenities of our choosing). Translated, this means that a 1200 sq ft 2-bedroom unit will cost around $265,000. This is preliminary, of course.
If you don't think you can afford this, go to our "Affordability" page to see all the way Cohousers work together to bring down the cost. There are several grant and loan possibilities shown here as well.
5) Know that Move-in will probably not be until 2011:
Who knows what the market will do? We have at least two years of design, approvals, and other development tasks to perform before we can start building. The building process itself, possibly shortened by the use of modular construction will still take six months. See if this timetable works for you and your family.
If, after all of this you feel you would like to join us, please come to two or three meetings on the third Sundays of the month, feel comfortable with the process, then join. We are not sure who we will be in three months, six months, even a year, but we are sure we will have a solid community committed to Cohousing, Kimberton, green energy, in two to three years and will thrive for many years to come.
Levels of Membership in
Altair Cohousing at Kimberton
Village
- Charter: Members with a financial
stake in Altair, participate actively in
Altair’s work,* attend meetings, and pay
$20/month dues. Make a deposit of
$1000 into an escrow account with full
say in how it is used. Further payments
and financial profiles are required at
various milestones. - Associates: Attend meetings (or when
unable to attend, contribute with comments
and ideas), $20/month dues, and involvement
in one or more Task Circles.* - Friends interested in Altair’s progress:
Mail list, plus $25/year or in-kind contribution,
attend occasional meetings. - Donor/Investor: Willing to make a
contribution or invest in a home or
community space.
See www.altaircohousing.org/investment.
• *Task Circles include: Site development,
legal and accounting, membership, outreach
and public relations, affordability,
hospitality and childcare, sustainability, and
steering committee.
Altair Cohousing, LLC, is a member of CohoUS, a national association of cohousing communities. (www.cohousing.org)
To apply, simply get back to us with the following information:
Date___________________
Level of Membership: _____________________ Task Circle(s): _________________________________
Dues Pledged: __________________________ Number in Household: __________________________
Names and Ages: _________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________ Phone: _____________________________________
Address: ______________________________________ City, State Zip: ____________________________
Email: _____________________________________ How did you find out about us?_________________
