Is co-living a viable housing alternative?

If you look back at housing data from the first census in 1940 up until the latest in 2010, one finding remains consistent: single family homes serve as the primary form of housing, accounting for approximately two-thirds of all housing types.

In prior issues, we’ve looked at alternative housing types, such as bungalow courts and other missing middle housing to understand their affects on affordability and psychological health. This week, we look at the single family home and ask the question, what happens when single family homes are used to support more than one family?

To help understand this question, we switch up the format a bit and interview entrepreneur and author Derek Snook, founder of the app CoLife that provides co-living options for both homeowners and tenants, currently serving the Charleston area. Derek has a unique story that includes living with the homeless for a year and creating a successful business that provides opportunities for employment and mentorship for those in need. You can read more of his story in his book called, The Definition of Success: What Living Homeless Can Teach You. I encourage you to check it out!

The interview below has been edited, taken from a conversation with Derek Snook on August 5th, 2020.

Brad: Let’s start with co-living — what’s your definition?

Derek: I don’t know that there’s a single definition, but in many ways it’s much broader and more flexible [than housing options available today]. It feels like this new modern and futuristic way of living, but it’s actually radical. And by radical I mean the “root of”, so it’s going back to a traditional and more human pattern of living.

In Boston in the 1800’s, [between] one-third and one-half of all residents lived in boarding houses, which were owner-occupied homes where they rented out at least one room.

It’s basically what CoLife [and co-living] is doing — modernizing the boarding house.

Brad: First, let’s set the stage for how you began this journey of building CoLife. You’ve had a variety of living experiences: you grew up in the suburbs, you lived in Africa for many years, and when I met you, you were living on a sailboat in New York City. You briefly lived at Northstreet, the beautiful co-living community for those with disabilities in Durham, NC. Then, you visited various co-living homes all through Europe for an extended period of time, and shortly after that trip, you started building CoLife. What happened to compel you to start this company?

Derek: Well first, I think the suburbs is a kind of purgatory. There’s a natural human longing for the quietness and peace that exists in rural areas, but there’s also a desire to be in cities around people. I don’t think it’s an accident that God lays out the new Jerusalem as a city. I had a great childhood in the suburbs, but I believe they’re bad for adults. Growing up, I remember asking my friends if any of their Dad’s had friends, and they all said no.

I became good friends with some people from Slovenia. They came to New York to visit, then they visited the suburbs, and they said the suburbs were like a treadmill, repeating the same things over and over again.

Let me say first that I think the automobile is great for independence. Ivan Illich (catholic theologian and philosopher), said a lot of interesting things about the automobile. He said the average American spends 20% of their time in the car and 20% of their income on a vehicle. If you were to back out the ~10 weeks we work to pay for our cars, and the ~10 weeks we actually spend in the car, along with other costs, he says you’re actually moving 3–5 mph, so you should just use a bicycle.

Brad: What did you see in Europe that you brought back with you as you began working on CoLife?

Derek: In Tiblisi, Georgia, their homes are built around these inner courtyards. Each home still contained the private sphere for their families, but then they could go the the inner courtyards and interact with their immediate neighbors. Then, they could move beyond that to the main square of the city, grocery store or the cafes. It makes sense that there are multiple rungs of vulnerability [that speaks to who we are as human beings].

Howard Thurman (theologan and philosopher) said within every person is an inward sea. On that sea is an island, on that island is an altar, and on that alter is an angel with a flaming sward. And nothing can get to that angel with the flaming sword.

That alter represents the connection to our soul.

I think God cares deeply about the layout of our cities, and that the layout is reflective of our hearts, both as individuals and collectively as a society.

Brad: One of the things that you’ve spoken a lot about is community, which is a word that gets thrown around a lot, but can you speak to what you think is required for genuine community to exist?

Derek: I think there are seven essential elements for true community to exist.

First, proximity. You need to be within a few blocks of each other.

Two, freedom of movement and privacy. People can’t feel like they’re hostages to other people, and they need to be able to be alone when they please.

Three, spontaneity, which relies on number one, and I feel like this and proximity are missing the most in our culture.

Number four, liturgical elements. These are set events that allow for communal worship, such as prayer together or singing. At Northstreet (Co-living faith-based house in Durham, NC), they had consistent morning and evening prayer times where people knew they could join in if they wanted to.

Number five, shared mission. Again, Northstreet was a home built to help those with disabilities to thrive and be faithful to their calling.

Number six, margin. Living in isolation tends to be expensive, but living in community can be more affordable There can be an exchange and bartering of expertise [whether that be] childcare, long term care, [or] elderly care.

And number seven, diversity. It helps us to see our own flaws. Diversity keeps you from creating false narratives of people in their absence. It helps us to open our hearts to others that are different from us. When I lived at Northstreet, Tony [one of the housemates who had a disability] would be making coffee and he’d come up to me and say, “Derek, good morning! God loves you and everything is going to be ok.” And he’d give me a big hug. That’s how I started each day.

Brad: Who is the typical user of CoLife, both from a homeowner and tenant perspective?

Derek: 80% [of users] seem to be moving from city to city, and are typically 23–35 single females, say a marketing professional with a masters degree, looking for something safe. They want to live somewhere for 3–6 months then buy a home.

Homeowners tend to be single or empty nesters or a family with an ADU looking for some extra money or looking for connection. The average home has doubled in size over the last 50 years, at the same time we’re building half as many homes as we once were. So, prices [are] skyrocketing but we have the space available, it’s just inside of our homes.

We plan to include more interviews in future issues to discover and present diverse ideas on how people understand ways homes shape our lives.

Thank you friends for the feedback we’ve received thus far. As we continue to tweak Wayfinder, let us know what you think. Going forward, our plan is to send out a new issue every two weeks to allow for deeper dives within each story.

Originally published at https://buttondown.email.