June 2019 | Washington Commons
Saturday Morning Site Tour
When: June 15th, 10:00am
Where: 4th & G St. West Sacramento
Join us for a Saturday morning site tour to see our special location near the Sacramento River! - Envision living in this walkable, bikable vibrant community.

We want to meet you and have you meet us – and through questions, answers and discussion have you get a better idea of what it is like to be “in community”. We’ll talk about the kind of structure and community that we will be creating together.  

We will give you the latest update on our progress.  We now own the property! We’ve selected our architects and developer and will begin the design process June 23-24! We’ll go over the estimated costs and how to become a member and get involved. It’s a very exciting time be a part of Washington Commons.

Meet us at our site, on the corner of 4th and G St. in West Sacramento, this Saturday at 10:00am, and we will introduce you to our future community. Our neighborhood walk will be along the Sacramento River to a nearby coffee house where we will continue the discussion of what’s involved to make this happen. 
Can't Make it to a Site Event?
Join us on Zoom
When: Wednesday June 19th. 6:00PM (pst)
We invite you to join us for a lively online video-conference meeting through Zoom. We’ll share an overview of the project along with the latest updates. To register for the meeting, please email us at washingtoncommonscohousing@gmail.com - Put “Zoom Registration” in the Subject line, and we will send you a link for the meeting.
BREAKING NEWS!
We are beginning our architectual Design Workshops on June23-24!
Our Architects
What makes cohousing unique is that the members participate actively in the design process. It is a true collaboration between the members, the architects and the developer. We are a design team. At this first design workshop, we will work together to determine how we want to use the site as a community and define our key parameters for our community in terms of design. 

We selected Urban Development + Partners (UD+P) of Portland Oregon as our developer. Joren Bass, of UDP, led the development team for the nationally recognized PDX Commons, an urban infill cohousing community in Portland Oregon completed in 2017. Mahlum Architects and M F Architects of Portland were selected to lead the design team. National cohousing expert Katie McCamant of CoHousing Solutions will facilitate this workshop.

We envision a multi-story project with 30-40 fully independent condominium flats with extensive community facilities including community kitchen, guest rooms, and other amenities. The design phase is expected to be finished in the fall. Anticipated project completion is 2022.  We will continue to seek and add new members until all the units are committed. We expect the project to be attractive to individuals and couples working in nearby offices as well as others wanting to downsize to live in a vibrant, walkable community near the river and many community attractions.

The Design Workshop will go from 9:00 – 5:00 on Sunday, June 23 with a gathering that evening for dinner and Monday, 8:30 – 3 p.m.

Find out more about this process and how you can become involved by attending our site tour June 15 or our Zoom Information Call on June 19 th . Or give us a call and let us know your interest and questions. We’d love to have you on board for this.  Contact Jae Jensen at washingtoncommonscohousing@gmail.com .

Mayor Cabaldon Recognizes Washington Commons
Washington Commons sponsored a table at the recent State of the City banquet organized by the West Sacramento Chamber of Commerce. The evening was festive and brought together many community organizations, residents and leaders of West Sacramento. 

Mayor Christopher Cabaldon’s “State of the City” address included a salute to what we are doing when he spoke about how the City of West Sacramento is addressing housing needs. He noted that the City has entitled for development over 10,000 housing units that haven’t been built – that the City has done its job but the housing units have yet to be built. Then he acknowledged Washington Commons … (at 27:30 minutes)

“… I want to acknowledge the folks behind
Washington Commons who are taking another stab at the affordability challenge by living together again – sharing a facility (while living independently) in the Washington Neighborhood  as a different way to approach the housing choices. So a salute to Washington Commons for their work.”

The Mayor’s speech included history of our Washington neighborhood and of West Sacramento, and as well, the breadth and amazing accomplishments of this community since its incorporation just 32 years ago. He spoke about the diversity of the community and the support given to young families. He addressed many issues: education, homelessness, transportation, public safety, economic development, down-payment assistance for new homeowners. Calbaldon has helped put West Sacramento at the forefront of national and international issues.
Make an Investment in Your Future, Your Health and Your Community Well Being
Find out what you need to know to take your next step...
Come to a site tour. Participate in a Zoom Information Call. Ask questions. Get answers.  Become an Explorer member and dig deeper. Take this opportunity to become involved, participate in our business meetings and our committees (as a non-voting member), get to know the group and see how we work together. You’ll be given an orientation on our budget and legal documents creating a sound foundation for our work ahead. Additionally, you will receive a copy of “ Creating Cohousing” written by our expert consultant Katie McCamant in partnership with Chuck Durrett.  Explorer membership is $250. If you become a full member within 3 months the $250 will be deducted from your initial membership investment of $2,000.

If you have been thinking like we have about the importance of community and about the potential of being part of the first cohousing community in West Sacramento – Now is the time to get involved!
Upcoming Dates
Site Tour
Saturday June 15th, 10:00am at 330 G Street
Learn more about our community!
Informational Zoon Call
Wednesday June 19th, 6:00pm.
Design Workshops
June 24 & 24
(Members only)
Hope to see you at an event soon!

Maggie, Loretta, Stu & Janet, Stu & Willa,
Mary Ann & Herb, Polly, Anne, Jae, Durriyah & Badru, Lisa & Scott, Christopher, Fran, Heather, and our newest members Barbara & Terry!

For more information on Washington Commons, please visit our website.
Newsletter designed by CoHousing Solutions