Author Archives: Brian Johnson

In my social circles, becoming a parent is seen as a gigantic sacrifice. You lose sleep, time with friends, time for hobbies. You’ll probably have to move to a less desirable neighborhood to afford the extra space for your kid. If you’re the one carrying the child, you’re ‘destroying’ your body and jeopardizing your professional goals.

But what if it didn’t have to be this way?

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Come see Heartwood Commons and all it has to offer. You’ll tour our  community of 36 individually owned, energy efficient homes and our Common House. You’ll learn about the comfortable, connected, active and engaged lifestyle Heartwood Commons offers. You’ll meet some of our owner/residents and see the 4 remaining homes we have for sale. And, we’ll answer all your questions about this amazing community that was designed to create connections and support healthy aging in place. 

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I’ve been telling this one story a lot in my talks, but realize I never shared it right here at home. If you’ve heard it, cool – here’s an easy way to share it with those who you think might benefit or get a kick out of it. And if you haven’t, well, it’s become core to my approach to life, politics, activism, economics, and taking this world back from the systems devised to disconnect us from one another, and reality itself.

Let’s do it as a thought experiment – change the names so we can protect the innocent.

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As the government continues to pursue ambitious housebuilding targets, could a recently finished development in Dorset be a template for sustainable housing elsewhere in the UK?

The 53-home Hazelmead scheme in Bridport – next to the hospital – is the biggest co-housing scheme in the UK.

Remarkably, It has taken locals 17 years from inception to completion.

But now it is fully occupied, it is receiving an impressive list of accolades – the latest being the overall Housing Design Award on Thursday.

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Homeownership can be stressful. Buying and managing a vacation property, perhaps even more so. Beyond the time and resources necessary to finance and maintain a second home, there’s the constant pressure to spend enough time there to justify the investment. But one Bay Area friend group seems to have solved these issues in one fell swoop by purchasing a vacation home together in Central California.

“We thought it would be super special to share a space and take on the joint burden, financial and logistical, of a second home together,” says Phil Levin, who purchased an 11-acre property in Big Sur with 15 of his friends through an LLC. Throughout the year, the group, along with their kids, pets, and guests, cycle in and out of the lot’s three dwellings—a three-bed home, two-bed cottage, and artist’s studio—coordinated with a shared Google Calendar.

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Construction of a 58-unit co-housing project is underway in Montreal. The building will be a mix of units, including 16 condos and 42 affordable non-market rentals.

The federal government and the Quebec government, together with the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, the City of Montréal and Village Urbain announced the $29 million residence will have at its core the Maison commune and will include nearly 10,000 square feet of shared spaces (indoor and outdoor) imagined during participatory design workshops.

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From co-housing projects to climate-positive districts, the city is leading the way in affordable, eco-friendly living

Sustainability sells. Nearly two-thirds of UK buyers say they are keen to purchase a sustainable home, with lower energy bills the biggest attraction, according to a recent survey by volume housebuilder Redrow.

But there’s a lot more to sustainable living than cheaper bills, says Paul Chatterton. Chatterton, 52, a professor of urban futures at the University of Leeds, is a founding member of pioneering Leeds co-housing co-operative Lilac (it stands for Low Impact Living Affordable Community), which put the city on the sustainable housing map more than a decade ago.

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I remember the moment I couldn’t deny my climate anxiety any longer. It was September 2017, and an ethereal, orange-red light was shining through our window, landing at the feet of my then-six-month-old baby. The beauty of the scene was eclipsed by the source of the light—a sun obscured by wildfire smoke blown in from the Eagle Creek Fire that was raging in the Columbia River Gorge to the east of where I lived in Portland, Oregon. The scene of my baby amidst a seeming apocalypse highlighted a dual crisis: raising a child in a dying world.

The feeling was overwhelming, and it resulted in me beginning to focus my writing toward the intersection of climate change and disaster preparedness. My anxiety prompted me to prepare by stocking up on food and water and creating go-bags. Preparing alone felt futile. But in early 2024, during a freak ice storm that blanketed the city in a sheet of ice for several days, when I could barely walk across the street to deliver bread to my elderly neighbor, I remembered a conversation I’d had with a colleague and friend Noelle Studer-Spevak a couple years before. She told me about living in a cohousing community. Initially I’d dismissed the concept; it made me think of living with roommates. But after that winter storm, I wondered: would these communities be more prepared for an uncertain future because of a shared agreement to support one another?

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Nauset Construction has completed Hager Homestead, New England’s first senior cohousing community.

Located on a 15-acre parcel of land that was home to a former local dental practice and residence on King Street in Littleton, just 25 miles northwest of Boston, the thoughtfully designed neighborhood includes 26 one- and two-bedroom homes across five distinct buildings.

Residents enjoy shared amenities such as a renovated barn with a woodworking shop, a community garden, and 13 acres of open space with nature trails. The walkable location offers easy access to Littleton Center, Town Hall, and the public library, and is just a five-minute drive from the commuter rail station.

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