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Then you’ve maybe been dreaming about Bozeman Cohousing. The neighborhood is designed as a neighborhood should be—where communing with neighbors, interacting with kids, and enjoying open spaces such as gardens and yards—isn’t bisected with cars speeding through. Cohousing neighborhoods value connection, healthy living and aesthetic design over the mighty automobile and roads, which tend to carve up neighborhoods, redefine our social engagement, and make life more dangerous and noisy than it needs to be. 

Sure, many cohousers own vehicles, but parking is in a designated area with garages and an open lot. It abuts the community area of homes and shared spaces, and it is convenient to access and walk to from each home. But serving vehicles isn’t a mainstay of the community; instead, it’s a peripheral necessity that is properly designed for.

Building healthy communities that aren’t dominated by vehicles

In most cohousing communities, children as young as two or three can run across the pedestrian path to ring their neighborhor’s doorbell without needing to hold an adult’s hand. By age four or five, children experience a level of freedom within their own neighborhood that is uncommon these days. They can go to the playground or visit the community garden for some fresh raspberries without having to cross a road. Bozeman Cohousing will be without a doubt one of Bozeman’s safest neighborhoods for children.

Another fun note about Bozeman Cohousing and vehicles: We’re doing a car share for anyone who is interested! Also, there will be shared community bikes in addition to plenty of space for your personal bikes. 

Cohousing Builder chosen with expertise on sustainable communities

Bozeman Cohousing has some exciting news! We recently partnered with Cadius Partners, a local developer and builder. Cadius has extensive experience developing and building communities in Bozeman. Their knowledge of the City’s processes and construction costs along with their relationships with subcontractors and banks moves our neighborhood that much closer to being a reality.

Cadius Partners has created a number of beautiful communities in Bozeman that focus on high-quality materials and sustainability through community solar and agri-community. Below are images from their past projects.

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What does this mean for Bozeman Cohousing?

To start construction, Bozeman Cohousing will need to secure a construction loan. Cadius Partners, as our developer, will help us secure this loan. Additionally, they will be the builder. Having our developer and builders involved almost a year before construction allows Cadius to be involved with and provide their expertise on many items including the design process, discussions with the city, and construction costs.

We are thrilled to be working with Cadius and are excited to have such a qualified developer and builder that understands the cohousing vision and will work to help us build our cohousing neighborhood.

Another Reason Why Bozeman Cohousing Offers a Great Neighborhood to Raise Kids

Before the pandemic, one thing that most Americans did not have enough of was unstructured time. In the culture of “more is better,” we tend to over-schedule our children and ourselves. For children, there are so many amazing opportunities in Bozeman. Cross country ski lessons on weeknights and downhill lessons on the weekends. There are rock climbing classes, gymnastics, dance and swimming. There is pressure for music lessons and also for something “fun” like circus camp or pottery.

Of course our children love hanging out with their friends and the energetic teachers at these activities. The result, though, is that there aren’t many kids hanging out at the park after school. The sidewalks are mostly empty of bikes, scooters and tricycles. If you walk outside on a Saturday afternoon, most neighborhoods are quiet. Even parents who resist organized activities end up with a handful of classes for their children because where else are they going to find other children to play with?

Since the pandemic, many of us have more unstructured time than we know what to do with. The organized activities are cancelled. Kids are playing in their backyards and riding bikes. Sadly, many of them are doing it alone in order to maintain social distancing.

It need not always be this way, however. What if we don’t sign our kids up for so many activities? What if we send them outside to romp in the neighborhood like we did as children? As a kid, I knew where every other kid in my neighborhood lived. My siblings and I would do the rounds, ringing doorbells to find enough participants for capture the flag. Today, most of us aren’t comfortable with youngsters roaming even a few blocks from home. There are roads to cross and we don’t know many of our neighbors.

Post-pandemic, I look forward to a neighborhood where we regularly hear children playing, a neighborhood in which we know our neighbors’ kids, and the adults alike. 

Bozeman Cohousing is building an old-fashioned type of neighborhood where kids can roam, and with the added twist of a car-free interior so that parents can relax. In such a neighborhood, it won’t be long before kids are wanting to skip soccer practice so they can play soccer with their friends on the green. And instead of loading everyone up to drive to karate class and return to pick them up an hour later, parents can spend quality time with other adults in the neighborhood and playing with their kids.

Read more about Kids & Cohousing.