close neighborly relationships , community gardens and a swap-and-share ethos , McCamant says , residents tend to drive — and spend — less .
“ For me , that ’ s why I do the work of trying to get communities built ,” Mc- Camant says . “ In the U . S ., we desperately need good models where you can live a good life and use less resources .”
It ’ s a lifestyle choice
Many years ago , when McCamant ’ s daughter was still in high school , she and a friend wanted to bake chocolate chip cookies for firefighters battling a nearby wildfire . Neither had the needed ingredients but instead of driving to the store they resorted to a closer resource : their neighbors in Nevada City Cohousing . “ They worked their way down the row of houses , knocking on doors until they had everything they needed ,” McCamant says . “ They never even left the property .”
McCamant and Durrett , her ex-husband , raised their daughter in cohousing — first at Doyle Street Cohousing in Emeryville , which she and Durrett cofounded in the 1990s , and then later Nevada City Cohousing , which opened in 2006 .
Nevada City Cohousing ’ s 34 homes sprawl across 11 acres of wooded terrain . There are native pines as well as fruit trees , including lemon , peach and apple . A large community garden , perched along the property ’ s top ridge , is popular with children because of its plentiful berry harvest . McCamant says she planted them here with a specific vision . “ I figured if we lined the path with strawberries , it ’ d be a good way to get ( the children ) up here ,” she says .
For McCamant , cohousing hasn ’ t just been an architectural pursuit , it ’ s been a lifeline .
Until the boom of the single-family home and modern car culture , Mc-
Camant points out , people lived and congregated in small towns and villages , helping each other raise families . “ Before , there was never this idea that only the mom and dad were supposed to take care of the kids ,” she says .
Modern living has mostly eroded the idea of such community care , she says , and the resulting “ nuclear family ” unit — mom , dad and kids in a single-family home — is often isolating . Now , she says , as our concepts of family and household continue to evolve , so do our ways of providing shelter . “( With ) the changing natures of families and households , it ’ s not just the nuclear family that is the dominant family type ,” she says . “ We ’ ve had this radical shift in the household .” Cohousing is one answer to that shift and , McCamant adds , it ’ s a solution for all generations , including aging seniors , who for health and safety reasons want to live closer to others , and young families struggling to balance work and family life .
The coronavirus-induced lockdowns have made it more clear , she says . Instead of group dinners and other close-quarter gatherings , residents have , like much of the nation , taken to Zoom for meetings and get-togethers . Recently , neighbors staged a talent show on the terrace , and everyone watched from their porches or via videoconference .
“ The pandemic is just a really good reminder that who you live next door to matters — proximity matters ,” Mc- Camant says . “ Relationships are deeper than any specific space .”
Rachel Leibrock is a writer and editor who covers arts and culture , food , and current events . She has worked at the Sacramento News & Review and The Sacramento Bee . More at www . rachel-leibrock . com .
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