This week’s Bottom-Up Revolution podcast guest is Lisa Leslie, who helped lead an effort to create a cohousing community with 11 families in Silverton, Oregon. Lisa and her husband went from living with two other families (including Strong Towns Content Manager, John Pattison’s family) in a cooperative house, to dreaming of building a full-fledged cohousing community, to seeing that dream come to fruition this past year.
Cohousing is a term that really applies to the way most humans live around the world today and throughout history: it’s living with extended family and friends in close proximity, rather than having individuals and single households all occupying private, separate dwelling places. In Lisa’s case, the cohousing community she helped found, Evans Oaks, is made up of several small homes, clustered together, with lots of shared space and a commitment to doing life together. This isn’t some socialist commune, it’s folks who want to live close to their neighbors, share some duties and expenses, and have a support system around them.
We feature Lisa’s story today because it’s a wonderful example of someone envisioning a strong community and incrementally building it with her neighbors. The lessons she shares today—about patience and dedication and committing to deep engagement with one’s community—bear relevance even beyond a particular living situation. We hope it provides a fresh way to think about how we choose to live, no matter who your household or housemates are.
Help Shape the Future of the Strong Towns Podcasts
Using Strong Towns Principles to Strengthen Your Bike Advocacy
Supporting Local Food Systems Amid Covid-19
Creating a "Vision Block" for Your Neighborhood
Co-Creating Your Community on a Collaborative Map
How Have Your Community Heroes Responded to the Coronavirus?
Partnering with Neighborhood Associations to Guide Public Investment
Seeing Your City's Budget through a Strong Towns Lens
Using Local Entrepreneurs to Revive Your Main Street
Planting Street Trees to Slow the Cars
Supporting Rural Entrepreneurs
Fall Member Drive 2019: Strong Towns Member Andy Diaz Discusses Building Strong Neighborhoods
Serving the Youth in High-Risk Neighborhoods
Finding Home Wherever You Are with Melody Warnick
Fostering Micro-Neighborliness
Building Productive Places (and Showering them with Love)
Combating Food Deserts (and more) Through Corner Stores
Inspiring Grassroot Community Revitalization
Creating People-Oriented Places
Using Tactical Urbanism to Create Safer Streets
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