More room for cohousing in the United States: Understanding diffusion potential by exploring who knows about, who likes, and who would consider living in cohousing

Abstract

Early adopters of cohousing have been relatively homogenous in many regards. For example, most are white, politically liberal, Democrat, and have a post-graduate education; females are also overrepresented compared to the general population. Little is known about the degree to which this lack of diversity is due to lack of broader appeal, lack of awareness or access, or other factors. The present study sought to further understanding of this issue. Through a diffusion of innovations lens, we explored a wide range of potential demographic, socioeconomic, and attitudinal predictors of knowledge of and interest in cohousing among the general US population, via an online survey of 157 individuals. Regression analysis revealed that being older, not heterosexual, more educated, and voting in the 2012 presidential election predicted greater knowledge of cohousing, and being liberal and a working woman predicted interest in cohousing. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for understanding the profile of cohousing early adopters and potential for the movement to expand to broader segments of the US population.

Motivational Barriers to Shared Housing: The Importance of Meanings of “Home” in the Diffusion of Housing Innovations

“…Theoretically, we have made a case for extending the diffusion of innovations perspective (Rogers 1983;Williams 2008;Boyer and Leland 2018;Sanguinetti and Hibbert 2018) with a meaning of home perspective (e.g. Mallett 2004;Claessens, Vlerick, and De Decker 2009).…”

“…quoted in Williams 2008), and consequently, broader than most of the definitions or descriptions used in the academic work on cohousing (e.g. Boyer and Leland 2018;Sanguinetti and Hibbert 2018;Jakobsen and Larsen 2019). The focus of our working definition during the interviews was mainly on the spatial outlay of such projects, and much less on the aspect of collaboration and communal activities: "Cohousing is a housing form in which several households each have their own housing units, but can make use of communal living areas as well."…”

“…With respect to cohousing projects in particular, several recent quantitative studies have for instance emphasized their limited scope and diffusion. Compared to the sociodemographic profile of their respective countries in general, participants in cohousing projects in the USA and Denmark tend to be more affluent, more highly educated, and more often white (Williams 2008;Boyer and Leland 2018;Sanguinetti and Hibbert 2018;Jakobsen and Larsen 2019). This has led to the question whether "cohousing [will] be adopted by the mainstream or will [.…”

“…Other scholars within this research tradition have focused more on what Rogers (1983) calls the "innovation-decisions process", analysing the role of knowledge about and interest in cohousing as important preconditions for its eventual uptake. Not only is knowledge quite low in general (Sanguinetti and Hibbert 2018), those who know about it are not entirely the same as those who are interested, and those who are interested are not entirely the same as those who do it (Boyer and Leland 2018;Sanguinetti and Hibbert 2018). In these studies, demographics are the main focus, although Sanguinetti and Hibbert (2018, 153) point to the need to include the "influence of cultural norms regarding privacy" in such models.…”

Making room for whom? Co-living as a reinvention of rooming houses for the commodified city

“…Parallels between co-housing and gated communities have been drawn by some (Chiodelli, 2015;Chiodelli & Baglione, 2014). Sanguinetti & Hibbert (2018) found that among US cohousing residents, 95 percent were white, compared to 73 percent for the US as a whole. Additionally, 94 percent of cohousing residents were college-educated, with 66 percent of residents holding a graduate degree (Sanguinetti & Hibbert, 2018).…”