A group of Greenhaven-ers went on a weekend tour of cohousing groups in Massachusetts. The group visited 4 sites.  I was not able to go for the full weekend, but I was able to go up to see Pioneer Valley Cohousing on Sunday Morning 10/7/2012.

Things I liked:

• Wonderful common house with all the features I am looking for including meeting space, large dining facilities, guest rooms and a huge kitchen.
• The homes were designed to maximize usable space and rooms to be used for multiple purposes.
• The exterior of the homes looked really nice and were made with sturdy material (fiber cement that did not require lots of maintenance.)

Things I didn’t like:

• The slope of the land made the walking paths harder to travel especially for older people
• The common house was quite far from the houses on the top of the hill 
• The homes in the center of the circle were wedged in
• The parking was very far from some of the homes. (Wonder about bringing in grocery bags and other deliveries to the home.)