Co-Housing is a concept sometimes attributed to Denmark in the 1980’s. Co-Housing can be defined in many ways but the essential characteristics include planning for life changes such that the future is friendly and can accommodate life changes. This means in part an affordable, safe, readily-accessible neighborhood designed to optimize interaction between folk of different ages and interests. Co-housing is also characterized as a blend of private space where we can be isolated if wanted, but also includes the use of public spaces for efficiencies of scale (i.e. a common dining room; a nurse that provides health care for many) and convenience. Other common community characteristics are that folk help other folk in a variety of ways and members are actively involved in the governance of their community.

Co-Housing has typically been developed for a wide age range. For example, young couples may feel the advantage of have older “grandparents” around as role models for their children. In the case of the Lambda Retirement Community, Inc. we find few differences between the retirement needs of senior men and the general population but where these exist, we plan to create an environment that will honor these differences