“A Wonderful Way to Live”

Poley lives in Shadowlake Village Cohousing in Blacksburg, Virginia.
She visited many cohousing communities as part of research for her
doctoral dissertation. “Across the board, people who live in these
neighborhoods are thrilled with it,” she concluded. “I’ve lived in one
for 10 years. It’s a wonderful way to live.”

Before moving in, she had fears about living that close to her
neighbors. But she has been struck by how different life is now
compared to her previous traditional neighborhood. “There I knew my
neighbors enough to say hi at the mailbox,” she said. “Here I have such
a wonderful sense of community around me. For me, I don’t think I
desire to live in a regular neighborhood again.”

Though younger families like Poley’s are missing from senior cohousing,
those communities often want a balance of young and old retirees. “The
younger ones go in fully knowing that a big part of their life is
supporting and caring for members of their community,” she said.
“Everybody has that commitment to going through the stages of aging in
place and helping those older, and then being helped later.”

What if an elderly resident is becoming too frail to be alone? “When
someone gets to the place where neighbors and friends can’t support
them, there’s a sense of solidarity in helping that person figure out
what to do,” she said. It’s part of what being in a real community is
all about.