"Co-housing" a la "Golden Girls" TV show

I just saw an interesting video clip from PBS. It's about Boomers taking lifestyle cues from the old TV show "The Golden Girls."

I found this interesting, as my mother did this during the time she was divorced, before she married again. And I believe it worked out well for her.

In her case, however, she and her housemate didn't go so far as to buy the house together -- the other woman owned it, and my mother rented from her.

So I thought this was worth a bit of a discussion. What problems do you see, and what sounds good about it to you?

Would you consider this if you found yourself single and trying to determine how to afford decent housing?

I definitely would be a "Golden Girl". I cannot see myself living alone......if DH passes before I do.

I'm not the greatest housemate --my partner can affirm that. Meaning I'm messier than he is.

What would work for me better is my own self-contained apartment with very basic cooking facilities. Shared use of Internet technology, cooking with more facilities/common eating area, bathroom area that hired help would clean (can you imagine the fuss on this alone?)..

I could share with siblings, 1-2 friends selectively.

On a related issue, there are folks in my town who are working to develop a cohousing community for seniors who are still active. People have their own small homes/apartments, but there are communal dining rooms and exercise facilities and whatnot. I think it's a great idea. Me, I'm not the greatest at co-eating or whatever, but I like the imagination and simplification of not having all that 'stuff.'

I'll bet we are going to see more of these kinds of arrangements among all ages due to economic factors.

If I should out-live WB, I would definitely go for a "Golden Girl" type arrangement. I like the concept of being independent and still having help covering expenses. I love my husband but don't think I'd consider remarrying.

I'm with you, Jabber: I love my husband, but if her were to die, I can't imagine that I would have any interest in remarrying.

So I think a co-housing scenario would work for me -- probably a lot better than trying to move in with either of my kids...

And Ellemm, I too am intrigued by the facility you say they are building in your area. There's something in the works around here, some grand plan for some independent elder housing apartments near the hospital. (Our hospital is on the outskirts of town, and is surrounded by farmland and a golf course.) I'll be interested to see how that plan works out, but so far, I think they're still in the fund-raising stage to buy the land.

Senior Living here is expensive. Of course, it's all relative. I remember when looking for a place for Mom, her whole income would have been taken up in paying 'rent' for one of those Independent Living complexes. It's scary to think about how many older single women will be scrambling for places to live that they can afford, especially if they have no children to help.

Even the County Home is expensive around here.

It's called Oakcreek Cohousing Community, so you can look it up. Apparently all the houses are sold and there's a waiting list. All the 'regular' houses are small and there's a large community-use house. It looks great.

Frankly, I think having to be around that many people all the time and to participate in 'stuff' would drive me nuts, but we're all different. Clearly this works for a number of folks. It makes a lot of sense from a size perspective. After all, who needs a big house when you get older? Trying to take care of multiple rooms and property can become a big burden.

In that situation, I see myself only wanting to join group activities once a wk. or so. Knowing me, I would chum up with 1-2 women with shared interests.

It's never been my friendship style to part of a group of women. I've never socialized in terms of a regular group of women friends' night out.