Our Vision
Common Hearth Cohousing is a group of people who have come together to create a shared neighborhood. Our new, village-style community will be built in eastern Massachusetts, and will be based on the cohousing style of living.
About Common Hearth
Follow the links to learn about the members of Common Hearth, our values, our processes, and our plans.
Statement of Values
- A strong, caring community where we all know and support one another while respecting our differences and our shared values. We seek a community that fosters positive and emotionally supportive relationships for adults and children.
- Housing that is affordable to individual and multi-person households with a range of incomes.
- A neighborhood that is transit-oriented, providing convenient access to public transportation and major highways, as well as nearby amenities such as shops, grocers, post offices, etc.
- A community that welcomes people of different ages, classes, income levels, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, family types, political opinions, abilities and disabilities, and religious persuasions.
- A neighborhood with a rich village life which also values and honors individual privacy.
- A community that makes an effort to engage with, contribute to, and welcome that surrounding communities.
- A community designed and managed by its members using consensus-based decision making. We will nurture a culture of honest, direct, and respectful communication in making decisions and resolving conflicts among ourselves.
- An ethos and practice that is environmentally conscious, especially as regards resource consumption and conservation.
- A neighborhood design that includes a mix of developed space for clustered housing, a common house, and other community facilities while reserving significant open space, trees, and gardens.
Land-Search Area
Common Hearth will buy land that is within one mile walking distance of shops, restaurants, and public transportation that offers frequent service and a maximum 30-minute travel time to the subway.
This land will be in one of the following Boston suburbs:
Belmont
Melrose
Waltham
Wilmington (southern edge only)
Woburn
We are happy to have narrowed our land-search area so much. Recently, it was the entire green-shaded are in the map below. You can also look at our original land-search area.
How We Work
Common Hearth Cohousing is run by its member households, the future residents of the community. Until construction is complete, we operate as Common Hearth Cohousing, LLC (Limited Liability Corporation). Once the physical community exists, the LLC will dissolve, and we will operate as a condo assocation.
At twice-monthly meetings, the Associate Households and Equity Households (or Signed-On Folks) make decisions about the community through a consensus process. After thorough discussion of a proposal, Signed-On Folks indicate that they support it, are neutral, accept it with reservations, or block the proposal. Blocking is available only to Equity households, and only when they believe that the proposal would be bad for the group as a whole. Blocking of consensus is very rare, usually avoided through further discussion and revision of the proposal.
Much of the work of Common Hearth is done by teams of Signed On Folks. Currently, our teams include:
- Coordinating (sets agendas; facilitates meetings)
- Finance and Legal
- Social and Community Building
- Marketing (identifies and attracts prospective households)
- Geekery (maintains email lists, website, etc.)
- Land Search
In the future, we expect to have additional teams, including Membership Development, Community Support, Physical Facilities, etc. We also form ad-hoc teams as needed.
Legally, the members of the Coordinating and Finance & Legal teams compose the board of Common Hearth Cohousing, LLC. In practice, Common Hearth is deliberately non-hierarchical.
Project Phases
While it is difficult to estimate how long it will take to find suitable land and acquire the necessary approval and permits, especially in Eastern Massachusetts, the stages of the project are reasonably predictable.
Milestones Achieved:
Autumn 2005: Common Hearth Cohousing formed
Autumn 2006: Operating Agreement finalized
Common Hearth now accepts Equity Households as members of the Limited Liability Corporation.
Spring 2007: Land-Search Consultant began research into feasibilty of cohousing in various towns
In Progress:
Grow membership
Raise capital for land purchase
Determine criteria for land search
Future steps:
Search for land actively and evaluate potential sites
Determine overall requirements for buildings and other features
Choose architect, project manager, and other professionals
Negotiate a land purchase
Raise capital for construction
Work with architect on site & building plans
Acquire approvals and permits
Build
Grow membership to fill all units
Move in and recover in our new homes
How long will it take?
Across the country, cohousing developments can take as little as 2 or 3 years from the first meeting until move-in. In Eastern Massachusetts, they have tended to take at least twice as long, due to the lack of available land and strict zoning laws. There is reason to hope that the process is speeding up in Massachusetts: "smart growth" and cluster zoning are becoming more common, and cohousing is becoming better known and therefore less scary to town governments and abutters.
Directions to our Usual Meeting Location
Common Hearth's regular Sunday meetings are held at 75 Pleasant Street, Pleasant Street Church. Signs will direct you to the top-floor meeting space.
Pleasant Street Church is on the corner of Pleasant Street (Rte 60) and Maple street, one block west of Massachusetts Ave in Arlington Center. The building, white with a tall steeple, is across from St. John's Episcopal Church and Verizon Phone Company, and one block west of the Unitarian Church's modern structure. Parking can be found on Pleasant Street, Maple Street, or on Sundays, in the Verizon parking lot on Maple Street.
The outdoor entrance to an elevator for people with disabilities is in the rear of the building. Follow the instructions on the sign to ring the appropriate doorbell, and someone will meet you.
By Public Transportation
Take the Red Line to Harvard or Porter Station. Then take the #77 Bus to Arlington Center and walk up Pleasant Street past the Unitarian Church. You can also take the Red Line to Alewife Station and then board the #350 bus to Arlington Center, but this does not run as frequently as the #77. For more information go to the MBTA Web site at http://www.mbta.com
By Car
From Rt.2 East and West -- Exit at Rte 60. Drive East, toward Arlington Center, for about 1 mile. The church is on your left. If you reach Massachusetts Avenue, you've gone too far.
From Rt. 93 -- Exit Rte 60 West in Medford Center. Follow Route 60 west to Arlington Center and cross Massachusetts Avenue. The church is one block on your right.
From Lexington -- Follow Massachusetts Avenue to Arlington Center. Turn right onto Pleasant Street. The church is one block on your right.
From Cambridge -- Follow Massachusetts Avenue to Arlington Center. Turn left onto Pleasant Street. The church is one block on your right