This was at Wabun Picnic Area in Minnehaha Falls Park, Christina's comments in previous blog. Didn't get any photos of the food- Most was from Cecil's and was very tasty.  Plenty of room to visit with safe distance...

 Oh my has Covid left us all in a whirlwind this summer! Despite all of the craziness that has hit the U.S., Minnesota and Minneapolis in particular, we here at Cedar CoHousing have still forged on and have spent time in community, fostering friendships and getting to know each other as we prepare to build a co-housing community!
One thing we have done this summer is to get together at the park for picnics social distance style. It has been a great way to feel connected and to get to know each other while staying safe. We have a few more coming up this summer and are opening them up to anyone interested in learning more about Cedar CoHousing!
Please free free to stop by and join us. We are busy increasing our numbers, searching for sites and meeting with people to further our mission. We welcome any and all

Nov. 2nd at the Palace Community Center in St Paul, the Bassett Creek Site Search group held a potluck brunch and information session.
The group enjoyed hearing  about Stefan's trip to Boulder Colorado and meetings with Jim Leach who helped develop at least 20 different cohousing communities. 
As of November 16  the group now has 10 participants in Site Search.
When we get 15 households  we'll be ready to put down roots.
Contact us thru the website or email and we can talk!
Becca - bcrk@cohousing.org

August 24, 2019 at Southdale Library a Cohousing/Energy Education.
Philip Adam on the left and his friend Greg Laden presented the case for getting an electric car as soon as possible!  Their presentation was very much appreciated.    On screen there were graphs and data that showed how switching to an electric car will not only cut your green house emissions, but improve the local economy as in  "Buy Local..."
As people switch to electric cars the price of gasoline may also go down for the continued gas users. Who guessed that ?
Some Electric cars are able to give power back to the grid at peak demand and then be charged up during the wee hours of the night, thus evening out the peaks and valleys of electric use over 24 hours.
They discussed that some petroleum sources are "dirtier" than other sources, and the tar sands are some of the worst.  Unfortunately Minnesota gets most of its petroleum from the tar sands.   They explained how petroleum is "cracked" into different molecules, gasoline is one of the lightest,  then at the very bottom is the bunker fuel oil used on  ocean ships.
At the end there is "residue" which can be in asphalt, and can end up burned in Coal Plants to make electricity -  but yielding  much toxic air pollution with lead, mercury, and cadmium..
One good news is that in Minnesota  the electric generation is getting cleaner as more industrial size wind power is brought on line.  Information about the advantages of Electric cars is found here from the Fresh Energy website: 2lwej44565rn2mmjlk31pmwq-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Electric-Transportation-web.pdf

Bassett Creek Cohousing then followed with a presentation on our
Urban Site Search. The emphasis  was on our goal of building to the Passive House Standard, and locating close to transit.  Building a multifamily building with many common walls reduces  heat loss. 
The audience was engaged and had suggestions and questions.
Those attending might be our new neighbors!  Here are some California cohousing kids fooling around:
Becca Brackett

Saturday April 20, 2019  Bassett Creek Site Search Group held a presentation by Architect Elizabeth Turner at Eastside food co-op.  She is a Passive House Certified Architect and shared with us the details of the new Affordable Hook and Ladder apartments being built near Edison High in NE Minneapolis.  Her firm,  Precipitate Architecture, did the detailed plans and economic analysis to show the great benefits of Passive House Standard on one of the two Affordable Apartment buildings 2212-2320 Jefferson St. NE.
   There was lively discussion, and then Bob Lynn, and Kath Johnson and Becca Brackett presented the Urban Site Search Plan  for summer 2019. Its a limited time offer-  band together, search for a site, and your deposit is refunded if we can't get  make a big enough group by the end of Sept.
If you REALLY want to get Cohousing moving in the Twin Cities - JOIN!
     Next meeting May 5th at the Wedge table. 
www.meetup.com/Twin-Cities-Urban-Site-Search-Cohousing-Meetup/events/260607334/

July 23, 2018 In Pursuit of Cohousing: Brian PaStarr recounts his recent visit to Washington DC.

I made a trip to Washington D.C. and spent 4 days there, partly with friends who invited me, and partly to attend a conference on Non-Violent communication.
I visited two cohousing communities.

Blueberry Hill Cohousing is a Rural/suburban community built on 7 acres, and attached to a 20 acre farm – only the farm ownership by the parents of one of the members enabled them to acquire such a parcel in Fairfax county Virginia. They built 19 single family houses on the property as well as a common house of about 2000 square feet. Many of the original residents had children who grew up there and have now moved on. Now just 12 children live there, and common meals are held once a week.

Takoma Village Cohousing is an urban cohousing community on 1.4 acres with 43 units. It is a U shape building with 3 stories, some units are flats and some are two level town-homes. Paul Schwartz gave me a tour, and at the end of the U is an outdoor room ( Paul says they don’t like to call it a patio instead they call it the Piazza) It’s just outside the big windows of the common house- makes it easy to take your coffee or snack outside when the weather is good. Despite its urban location and its property backing up to the Metro  train, the grounds feel rural with window boxes on the railings.
While I was visiting, Takoma was having a community work day. I was amazed at how much fun adults and children were having as they worked together cleaning and gardening, one of the people working was a prospective member and after the work participating in a community meal
Both of these communities were built around the year 2000. Takoma has had 8-10 new families with children move in in the last 5 years.
Brian PaStarr

Here are some of us having a picnic on the grass at Milwaukee Ave in Minneapolis.  Just like in cohousing we saw people walking their dogs, kids playing or being pushed on the swings by their parents. A group was nearby planning a peace pole to be installed.  This Neighborhood has a walking street, and is very social, we can plan something like this - because the Builders are not doing this  on spec.  As a group we will make it happen!
If you have not been to Milwaukee Ave and want to know more- try this website:
http://tinyurl.com/hqxrax7
http://www.mnopedia.org/place/milwaukee-avenue-historic-district-minneapolis
Becca Brackett