WELCOME TO THE HOME OF PATHWAYS COHOUSING...
 

 

*** All 24families have moved in*** 
 
Mission Statement              News Articles
 
Next Meeting Dates             Our Photo Album

How to find our land            About Northampton

Expected House Pricing               Members at a Distance

Pictures from the Retreat

 
 


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The Pathways CoHousing community will be a place where the members' lives can be enriched through the regular sharing of time, celebrations, meals, and designated facilities.  Living in a neighborhood built on a human scale, it will be a place where kindness, simplicity and respect for the values and needs of others are our guidelines.
 
Pathways is a place where the diversity of our immediate community and extended community is embraced wholeheartedly.  We look forward to our membership encompassing a range of cultures, religions, ages, genders, sexual preferences, classes, and family constellations.  The process of creating Pathways CoHousing will include outreach that endeavors to make this diversity a reality.
 
In addition, our goals are:
 Building and living in an environmentally sound fashion.
 Affordability for the average single income household.
Creating and maintaining a child-safe place that fosters independence and well-being.
Using consensus as the primary mode of decision making.

  

   About Northampton, Massachusetts  Located on the edge of the Berkshire mountain foothills, Northampton (population 28,000) is 2 hours west of Boston, 3.5 hours north of New York City, 30 minutes north of Springfield and 50 minutes north of Hartford, CT in Western Massachusetts. Located in the Pioneer Valley along the Connecticut River, Northampton is a small city mixing urban and alternative amenities with semi-rural New England scenery and lifestyles. Galleries, art movie houses, a dazzling array of restaurants, theater and performing arts spaces, coffee bars, independent book shops and boutiques catering to every budget and taste line the cites vibrant Main Street.

Home to Smith College and its beautiful campus, and located within 10 miles of four other major colleges/universities, Northampton is one of New England's liveliest college towns. But walk off Main Street, and you're in a typical New England town with many churches, neighborhoods of large and small Victorian homes, and newer suburban developments in outlying districts. Northampton's population includes an eclectic mix of newcomers who come to work at or attend the colleges and those who are attracted by the cites reputation for sophisticated living without the stress. It is also home to a large population whose ancestors were farmers, local business owners or agricultural and mill workers, including people of British, Puerto Rican,African, Jewish, Polish, French-Canadian and Irish ancestry. Northampton also is home to a significant, visible lesbian population.

Northampton offers low violent crime rates, good schools, a tradition of volunteerism and community involvement, reasonable property taxes, an independent community hospital, an independent daily newspaper, an excellent public library (under major renovation in 1996) and large public parks and recreation areas, including a municipal lake. Resources nearby include malls, continuing education opportunities, parks, skiing, boating, a major regional medical center, and Bradley International Airport/Hartford, all within short driving distances. Employment opportunities are strong in higher education, social/health services and services. Many area newcomers telecommute or bring existing home-based businesses with them, set up shop on their own, or find employment in the Springfield or the greater Hartford areas. 

 

Daily Hampshire Gazette    December 10, 1998

As work begins, cohousing homes all taken

by LAURIE LOISEL
Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - Even before ground is broken on a project to build this city's first cohousing community on land off Florence Road, every one of the 24 units in the development have been spoken for.

Close to a half-dozen families are on a waiting list for the opportunity to make new lives in a novel kind of community with Pathways Cohousing, as the development is called.  Work on the private road into the project began last week.

At least a half-dozen members will relocate from New York, Boston, and Connecticut.  Others are already established here, a mix of men and women ranging in age from their 20s to their 60s, single people as well as families with children.

"It's just incredibly exciting to see the work of 3-1/2 years come into physical reality - it's thrilling because something like this has so many pieces and is so complex," said Laurie Farkas, a Pathways member.  "We all really are looking forward to having each other as neighbors."

Applied to a concept of housing design that originated in Denmark, the term cohousing was coined in 1986 by Katherine McCamant and Charles Durrett of Berkeley, Calif., who had studied 46 such neighborhoods in Denmark.  McCamant and Durrett based their book "Cohousing", now a handbook for creating such developments, on that model.

Cohousing communities feature separate living units but encourage a sense of community through design.  The units in Pathways, for example, are to be built 30 to 40 feet apart.  Residents park in a common lot rather than having separate driveways for each unit.  The area around the dwellings is kept vehicle free.

There is a common house, shared by all residents, that includes a dining room and kitchen for community meals, guest rooms for use by the whole group, a playroom, and group activity rooms.

Cohousing seeks to preserve open space by clustering the dwellings.  Pathways, for example, will cluster its units on 4 or 5 acres of the 40-acre parcel.  They will be a mix of duplexes, stand-alone houses and common areas.

The projects marks the first time a 1994 city ordinance that allows for cluster developments such as cohousing projects is being put to use in Northampton.

Though this is Northampton's first cohousing community, Amherst has two.

Tonight, Douglas Kohl, whose company Kohl Construction is building the development, will appear before the Planning Board on a related matter.

Kohl owns the 40-acre parcel on which the project is being built, along with an adjoining 5 acres with frontage on Florence Road.  He plans to build three houses on that land.

Kohl is seeking a special permit to build a common driveway for those three homes, a drive which would extend off the Pathways private road.  Kohl said though he could, under city regulations, build separate driveways for each of those homes, he doesn't want to because that would mean disturbing the wetlands that run parallel to Florence Road on the property.

The motive for seeking the special permit, Kohl said, is to avoid having to cross wetlands.  He said the Pathways project will not be affected by the Planning Board's decision on the request.  Pathways secured all its required permits for the project in July.

Building for the cohousing project is slated to begin in the spring, with some members of the community moving in as early as next fall, Kohl said.

While the Pathways project has generated generally positive reactions - Wayne Feiden, the city's director of Planning and Development for example, has said it is good to have a variety of housing options within the city - there are some naysayers.

William and Barbara Rakaska, who have lived at 571 Florence Road, across the street from the planned development, for 25 years, have been vocal opponents of the project.

"I don't think the area can take that many more families all at once," said Barbara Rakaska, who voiced her opposition at some public meetings on the development.

She said she fears the influx of residents will intensify traffic, encroach on wetlands and tax city services like schools and water. "I just felt that the whole idea was crazy, when there are other places they could build," Rakaska said.

She also objects to Kohl's plan to build three more houses on Florence Road, saying, "When will it all stop?"

Pathways members say they are working to change the land as little as possible.

"We're trying to preserve as much land as possible and limit our impact on trees and animal habitat," said Rob Catlin, a member of the group's land committee.  He said he walked the land with workers recently, advocating to preserve specific trees when the private road was staked out.

Member Bill Farkas, said that when some newer members to the group learned of the plan to place the units so close together, they were initially taken aback.

"When people saw the payoff that we're getting to keep so much open space, having the houses clustered together was not so much of a stumbling block to them," he said.  "People have worked really hard to keep this true cohousing where the houses are clustered very closely to preserve a lot of open space."

They also say they searched for land appropriate for their project for years before finally discovering this parcel last year.

"We want to be good neighbors," Catlin said.

With their approval permits in hand, Pathways members have been holding lengthy meetings at least two weekends a month to hash out the details.

There are matters big and small to settle, from technical questions about house design to thorny, long term decisions, like what kind of pet policty the community should adopt.  They've also had a chance to get to know one another.

At this point, members are making final decisions about the design of their homes, which is adding to a sense of elation.

"It's a very exciting time.  Finishing our house designs makes it feel like it's just around the corner," said Lori Schwarts, who plans to move into a unit with her husband, Rob Catlin, and their three children.

There are four basic home designs, based on the number of bedrooms, though each house can be altered by the project's two architects, both of whom live in cohousing communities in Amherst.  House prices range from $110,000 for a one-bedroom unit to $190,000 for a four-bedroom unit.

Once they have moved in, residents will pay a maintenance fee, similar to fees paid by condominium owners, to go toward upkeep of the Pathways road, which will be kept privately owned rather than city-owned, and toward maintenance of the other common areas.

Next on the group's agenda is designing the common house and hammering out other policies.  They must set grievance procedures to follow when disputes between neighbors arise, establish policies on home offices, agree on guidelines to follow when making improvements to individual units, and discuss parking and other matters.
 
 

                    PRESS RELEASE

                  COHOUSING GROUP SECURES VISION

A group that has been meeting steadily since 1995 has found a 4O-acre plot on which they hope to create the city's first cohousing community. Cohousing is a term coined in 1986 by Katherine McCamant and Charles Durrett of Berkeley, Calif., who had studied 46 "living communities" in Denmark. McCamant and Durrett based their book "Cohousing," now a handbook for creating such developments, on that model, which creates a neighborhood designed to encourage a sense of community.

I think it's good to have a range of housing types in Northampton," said Feiden. "It gives people more choice." The group, called Pathways CoHousing Inc. is now working with local  developer Doug Kohl, who has control of the site and a Purchase agreement with its owner, Blanche E Keefe. The parcel of land is located on Florence Road between Route 66 and Burts Pit Road. One of the abutters of the property is the Bible Baptist Church, 722 Florence' Road.

"It's actually a beautiful piece of land, it feels very wild when you're back on it," said Laurie Farkas, who with her husband William Farkas has been working to bring the project to fruition. "This is a balance between privacy and community," said William Farkas.

In the Pathways project, he said, the houses will be clustered on 3 or 4 acres, leaving the remainder of the land for recreational and open space uses.

There will bre one parking area, likely to be placed near a common building, with only pedestrian walkways between each individual dwelling, said William Farkas.

The design itself, as well as a shared philosophy among inhabitants, will encourage an environmentally sensitive kind of lifestyle, he said. And though not a commune, there will be a fair amount of sharing.

 "We don't need 24 lawn mowers, and and snow blowers," Farkas said. "There are economies of scale. It does lend itself to consuming a little less."

 A strong sense of community is another big draw, say cohousing advocates.

 "It's kind of the way I want to raise my kids," she said, "being part of a community where the kids can go outside and play and you don't have to fear for their lives." Lev said the group has already been through a great deal of work in the past two years, and even more lies ahead. But that kind ot work, she said, is one of the ways you get to know people, and all part of creating a sense of neighborliness.

"We really wanted to be part of a neighborhood where we knew people, where you could go outside and see people you know," said Laurie Farkas. She and her husband have a 21/2-year old son, Sandor. "We're looking to create a community where we're all good neighbors to each other." She said members of Pathways vary in age, and include single people as well as couples with and without children.

According to a cohousing magazine, 28 cohousing communities have been built in the United States.  Two dozen more are under construction.

Locally, there are two other cohousing communities, both in Amherst:  Pioneer Valley Cohousing, with 32 households, and Pine Street Cohousing, which has eight households. Having three between Northampton and Amherst is an unusually high concentration of cohousing communities, according to John Ryan, a development consultant who through his company, Development Cycles, is serving as the project coordinator for Pathways. Ryan lives in the Pioneer Valley community in Amherst and served as a consultant on that project. He said he believes only Boulder Colo., and an area in California have a similar concentration.

According to Laurie Farkas, eight families have agreed to put down $3,500 each to secure their spots in Pathways, which is seeking a total of 24 households.

"We are hoping to finish the permitting and financial process by the fall," she said. "That's a goal."

 Feiden said if the group works efficiently in submitting plans to the various boards involved, that timetable is realistic.

If ground is broken as hoped by fall, and construction goes smoothly, it should take about 10 to 12 months she said. People should be able to move in by late summer or early fall of 1999, Farkas said.

 "That's a very rough timeline," she said.  "For that to happen it has to happen smoothly."

Prices for each unit will depend upon size, but a one-bedroom unit is to sell for $100,000, a two-bedroom unit seIls for $125,000 and a three-bedroom unit sells for $150,000.

 Laurie Farkas said the group has been meeting about twice a month now for two years, Much of its focus has been trying to find land. She said the group made three other offers on land in  Northampton,  all  of which  fell through.

 Now that a suitable piece of land has been found, and perc tests have been successful, the group is newly invigorated, she said.

 "It is really an exciting time," she said. We're energized. We're right on the edge of a ton of work, but it's a ton of really exciting , fun work."

 Sbe said the group will step up its meeting times, to meet about three times a month for sessions to plan how the site will look, how the units will be designed, and a variety of other matters.

 The group is actively looking to expand, she said. "We'd like our group to reflect what Northampton looks like," ~ she said.

 William Farkas said the land off Florence Road is hilly in places, and lends itself well to this type of design, in which the units are built close together, with the majority of land left
open.

 "One of the things we're hoping for Is that people have shared values around simplicity," he said. "People are looking to sustain each other more with relationships than with things.

 There will be an informational session about the Pathways CoHousing on Jan. 7 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Hampshire Regional YMCA. For more information, call Marta and Beth Lev at 584-7150. .

 

  "The developer has a purchase and sales agreement on the land," said Marta Mangan Lev, who is from one of seven families now involved in the project. "He would develop the housing and sell us the land." Pioneered in Denmark, the cohousing attempts to recreate the atmosphere and advantages of a traditional village in the context of 2Oth-century living.

 Locally, Amherst has two cohousing groups, the Cherry Hill and Pine Street communities. Lev described the Pathways group as a mixed community that hopes to settle in one-, two- and three-bedroom houses ranging in price from $100,000 to $150,000. Some of the present members were involved in a previous group that disbanded several years ago. Pathways holds monthly meetings that are open to anyone interested in the concept, Lev said. Eventually, the group hopes to expand to 24 families.

 "It's hoped that people who are serious will participate in the group in other ways," Lev said, noting that there are plenty of committees that need members. "It's kind of a big undertaking. Right now we are looking at designing the community. Lev, 47, said she, her partner Beth Tabor Lev, and their 15month-old son want to live in a community where  they can share everything from sugar to baby-sitting chores.  "It's a much more livable life," she said.

Farkas, 43, said she is looking for a place with old-fashioned neighborhood values where she and her husband, Bill, can raise their 3-year-old son.   "We want to re-establish a strong neighborhood where people are connected and available  to each other in the ways that old neighborhoods used to be," she said.

 Members of the Pathways Cohousing group hope to be able to move into their village by late summer or early fall of next year.

 

These three people were among almost 30 folks who packed a small room in the Hampshire Regional YMCA on a recent Wednesday night.  They were there to hear about Pathways, a cohousing community that, after two years of dogged effort, had just settled on a 40-acre parcel of wooded land off Florence Road, just 21/2 miles from downtown Northampton.  Their plan is to establish a community of 24 households that will, if all goes well, be ready for occupancy some time in 1999.  Houses will range inprice from $100,000-$150,000.

Both nationally and locally, cohousing is in the air.  A housing option which combines private home ownership with community development, cohousing was unknown in the United States until a decade ago.  Pioneered in Denmark in the 1970's, cohousing landed in the States in the late '80s with the publication of Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett's "Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves."

Today some 30 cohousing communities are occupied across the country with another 22 under construction, and an additional 150 in planning stages, according to Laurie Farkas, a core member of Pathways.

Massachusetts has been a particulary fertile clime for cohousing.  Amherst architect and cohousing guru Bruce Coldham says that there are now five occupied communities in Massachusetts.

The local area has become one of the true hotbeds of cohousing in America.  In Amherst alone, there are two communities, both of which have been occupied since the summer of 1994.  The Pioneer Valley Cohousing Community, featured in the accompanying story, consists of 32 households.  Pine Street CoHousing, where Coldham lives, is an eight-household community that recently won an "Innovations in Home Ownership" award from the federal office of Housing and Urban Development. (Coldham points out that six of the 60 such awards given out by HUD went to cohousing communities, an indication of their growing acceptance in the mainstream.)  Both Amherst communities have waiting lists of individuals and families who would like to move in should a house become available.

Pathways, which has been meeting steadily  for over two years, has been drawing heavily from the experience of its neighbors in Amherst.  "They have been very supportive," says Bill Farkas.  "They're extremely dedicated to this concept and want to see it furthered in the Valley.  They've given us a much more realistic picture of day to day living in cohousing."

Pathways frequently has its meetings at the Pioneer Valley Common House. They have also hired development consultant John Ryan, a Pioneer Valley Cohousing resident, to be their project coordinator.

While Ryan's company, Development Cycles, focuses on the tangible world of landscape and buildings, his primary advice to Pathways has been something different altogether.  He has been encouraging members of the group to focus on their relationships with each other.  His satisfaction as a cohousing resident, he claims, ultimately has little to do with structures and design.  "It's 95 percent interpersonal," he says.

 

 
 
I'd love to hear any comments, suggestions:
E-Mail :  Berrins@aol.com
Last updated: August 4, 2000
For more information about cohousing: The Cohousing Network
http://members.aol.com/pathways5