November Visit to Jamaica Plain Coho

Last fall, my husband and I visited relatives in New England but first spent a few days at Jamaica Plain Cohousing (JPC) in Boston. Here's a view of its courtyard from third floor walkway with common house at the ground level. 

JPC is about a five minute walk from the Green Street Station on the Orange Line of the "T". Fred has been in contact with several JPC folks over the years though Cohousing-L list serve discussions. We had visited them briefly on two other trips. Spending a bit more time allows one to get a much better feel for a community. Our timing was fortunate in that we were able to observe a community meeting and the next night a common meal that was a birthday party for two children. If the party had been in the summer it probably would be on the patio below. 

We also had breakfast with at a nearby cafe with few members who were involved with starting the community. They shared some insights from their long process. They overcame significant pollution on the site which had been a rubber factory.

The Skyways JPC

They never gave up!
JPC is built on a very urban 0.9 acre site. It has 30 units on 3 levels around a courtyard. Each level has a walk way connecting units. The walkway overlooks the courtyard and leads to the common house where there is an elevator.
There are also stairways at both ends of courtyard.
The skyways between the two building span a utility corridor that could not be built on.
This is also the main entrance to the community.  The walkable urban neighorhood,
proximity to transit, a system of ride sharing, subsidized transit passes, and community bicycles allow 6 households to NOT own cars.
There is surface parking lot behind the common house which has to be managed closely since parking is tight in the neighborhood. (Parking is tight everywhere in Boston.)
We'd love to live there if it were in Minneapolis.
Submitted by Fred Olson and Becca Brackett