CREATING INTERGENERATIONAL COMMUNITIES

MIXING PEOPLE OF ALL AGES IN THEIR LIVING ENVIRONMENT LEADS TO HEALTHIER, MORE FULFILLED, BETTER CONNECTED AND ACTIVE LIFESTYLES

Barbara Bailey, co-founder and resident of Prairie Hill, explained the appeal of the co-housing developent.

“We have meals once a week cooked by volunteer cooks. Residents pay five dollars to cover the cost and it puts on a meal for the whole community. We call it Tasty Tuesday,” said Bailey.

“Vegetables are brought down from the garden and prepared for the meals.

“People come together in the common house. We have morning coffee, movie nights, game nights, even beer brewing.”

The development is structured as a condominium.

Bailey dubbed the governing structure as a “sociocracy—no one head person, but committees in charge of things.”

Bailey believes Universal Design is a must for intergenerational living and co-housing.

“Most units have roll-in showers, accessible baths, light switches accessible to people in wheelchairs,” she said.

“We hired an architect very versed in the ADA and inclusion.

You get through the grounds without using steps and the two-story community building has an elevator.”