I would gladly live communally, or at least cooperatively in shared housing, in the right situation.

thgat seems hard to find, partly my own pickiness perhaps, partly the mindsets of others (which is sometimes illegal.)

I have a wonderful fourteen year old daughter, and not a few cooperative houses have told me, 'we're interested in but unsure of opening up to younger people."

er, discrimination by age or family type is ILLEGAL, folks, and that applies to group households too.

I;d like to live in a multigenerational setting, but I;ve also found that most of the people who are living in communal housing in the Bay Arera are way younger than I am (I'm 52) and really not very open to someone my age even if I didn;t have a daughter. 9see my remarks above abut discrimination by age being illegal even in groupo housing; you have to give ev eryone a chance.)

as the people older than I become :elders" I really see the need for intergenerational housing that helps provide for the needs of the elderly and disabled in a community setting that feels good to all.

my ideal communal house in an urban, or non-urban seting, would have shared food buyiung and some food growing (gardening, sprouting, etc.) and voluntary times of shared meals, without a lot of obligation and bickering over diet 9thugh I do prefer a vegetarian or at least vegetarian-friendly household, having been veg for nearly forty eyars now, leaning toward vegan.)

I;d like agreements on least=-toxic household products and practices (cleaning products, building materials, household and personal products, pest management) without someone being the "organika czar and czarina"

I;d like to work together with people for sustainable energy solutions, maybe equity-sharing in the house if that's possible, or at least good cooperative relationships with the landlord if house purchase isn't an option.

I;d like an understanding that most folks need to work for a living these days, or are studying to improve their options for making a living, so hours and levels of sound/noise need to be conducive to that. I found in my mot recent shared housing experiences that I have less problem, by a long shot, working around people's schedules when they, say, work night shift at a hospital and thus need it quiet during the day and tend to come in at odd hours,. i'm less sympathetic to people who think it;s anarchist-cool, or whatever their ID is, to stay up late at night, often listening to loud music, and then expect those of us who need to get out to work and/or get kids off to school to be quiet so that they can sleep until noon. 9this was literally another set of grouip living experiences...aetist dude liked to sleep until at least eleven., chose a room with no door as his bedroom because he liked the windows, then chewed us out for walking too heavily on our way through the living room right next to his curtained dining-room-turned-bedroom. )

I'm no prohibitionist at all, but I don;t enjoy living with people for whom heavy alcohol or heavy drug use are central to their lives. again, been there, lived with the alkies, didn't much like it.

I like it low on the offstage drama. some sense that adults are people willing to and capable of acting like mature people who can handle their disappointments in life without a lot of yelling, threats of or atempts at suicide again, had some of THAT b.s. in a group living situation, family fights, etc make it all run a lot more harmoniously.

basically, I need to live with people who are int4elligent, considerate, and who like and respect children of all ages, animals (i ahve turtles and cats now, wouldn;t mind having a dog again), and nature. if you need medication to act like a reasonable human being, we pprobably aren;t really suitable as roomates at this point; I;'ve been a mental ehalth worker and like the field, but I really need for it to be reciprocal...I may play the part of Commune ranch mama" in many ways but i;d rather nurture the children, plants, and critters that be the on-duty grownup for when there are many others who can and should carry the adult load.

any takers? my present neighbors are on the noisy side and the high-drama side and we need more space - two rooms in a good communal house that resepcts teens and middle aged intellectual hippie-ish mothers would be delightful!


we need to stay in berkeley or nearby; my daughter attends Maybeck High School here and loves it.