Courtesy of Susan Hindman

For some, aging in place can be a lonely thing. Neighborhoods may have turned over so many times that you don’t even know who’s living next door—especially if health has slowed your ability to get outside and see the new faces. Some neighborhoods are nothing more than resting spots for busy residents who venture from house to garage to car, to embark upon tightly scheduled days.

If you’re the kind of person who loves being involved with your neighbors and would rather age around ones you consider friends, cohousing might be a better fit. These small-scale neighborhoods average between 12 and 45 homes—with residents ranging in age from babies to the very old—and balance privacy and socializing. Neighbors are committed to living as a community, and even the design makes it “easy and natural” for them to interact,” said Lisa Poley, president of the board of the Cohousing Association of the United States.

Houses don’t face the street; the street is behind the house, along the periphery of the village, and that’s where all the cars are parked. Homes, clustered together and small, open inward toward each other and the sidewalks and courtyards, leaving more room for open space, which is shared. There are common play areas for children and community vegetable gardens, and informal group meals a few times a week as well as meetings for business and pleasure. All of this leads to stronger bonds among neighbors.

So, “If somebody just wants a place to live and doesn’t want to commune with their neighbors, this is not for them,” a 68-year-old resident of one cohousing community told USA Today.

Cohousing is intergenerational, which appeals to older adults wanting daily contact with children and younger adults. There are more than 100 completed intergenerational cohousing communities, and another 100 more in the process of development. For seniors who prefer being around older adults, there’s a fairly new option: senior cohousing communities. Only three are up and running—the first opened in late 2005—and two more are nearing construction starts. Others are in the discussion phase.

It sounds ideal in many ways. But cohousing is not always ready and waiting for you to hop aboard. Communities are the creation of their future residents and take a lot of time—and consensus—to plan, design, and construct. Land must be purchased, and workers hired. From the time the group begins meeting to the completion date can take between two and four years. “It can be taxing and exhausting,” Poley said. “It’s a lot of work unless you hire a developer to take on the whole thing, in which case there is a cost consequence.”

And when the cohousing community is built, the residents’ job isn’t done. They continue to work together to run their new neighborhood, solving problems and developing policies. There are no homeowners association boards making all the decisions, Poley said. In cohousing, “everybody has to sign on.”