As far as I can tell, the primary benefits of residential co-ops are financial and environmental (by sharing resources), and community/social/lifestyle. The idea of a co-op brings to mind college co-ops or hippie communes. However, as a young professional in Chicago, I am looking for neither of these. Instead, I want to share resources in order to save money and reduce my environmental footprint. I would also enjoy living among (or at least within the vicinity of) community-oriented folks who would be open to sharing a meal or bantering about such topics as I write about in my blog.
What I’m looking for is a co-op that isn’t cut out only for environmental progressives, but a way of financially- and environmentally-sustainable living that is accessible to most people and is sustainable throughout their lifetime (yes- three different uses of the word, ‘sustainable’). As with most environmental solutions, the hope is to find a solution that works for the average person – so the solution can be scaled and have a greater effect. I have seen examples that are close matches to this description, but I will continue searching. This topic easily deserves another blog post with specific examples and some analysis.