|
In March 2020, after I heard an advertisement on KVIE about a co-housing community being built in West Sacramento, it didn’t take long for me to decide to become a member. The timing was good, I was recently retired, ready to downsize, and wanted to find a place to live where I would know my neighbors and have many opportunities to enjoy their company. The Washington Commons location, close to the river, the bike trail, downtown Sacramento, and just three miles from Lake Washington sounded perfect. My introduction to West Sacramento was years ago when I joined the Lake Washington Sailing Club. For many years, I loved going to the Lake in the evening after work to enjoy an evening sail. These days I don’t sail anymore but the lake is still a favorite spot to enjoy the delta breeze, have a picnic dinner, and watch the sailors, rowers and windsurfers as the sun goes down over the lake and the Sacramento River Delta.  Cathy leads us to Twist again Since becoming a member, I have had many experiences that have reinforced my first impressions that Washington Commons was going to be a good fit for me. One is the community’s commitment to environmental values; another was discovering that the founding members who participated in the design phase had the foresight to include a large room for bicycle storage – no problem finding cycling buddies! I’ve had a great time participating on the Super-Weekend team; our meetings are well organized, productive, and fun. Two of my favorite super-weekend activities were leading a group singalong and an urban planning walk which were opportunities for me to share two of my favorite things, making music and wonky conversations about urban planning.  Cathy with future neighbors blessing her home of 30+ years Despite all our planning, Super-Weekends gave us opportunities to deal with the unexpected. On the difficult side, getting the hybrid Zoom sessions to work was always a challenge – a shout out to Racheli and her techie advisors who always got it to work, eventually. On the fun side, who knew the crazy dance activity we put together for the July Super-Weekend would be so hilarious – those of you who were there know what I’m talking about. For me, having fun together is the glue that holds communities together.
I lived in my Midtown Sacramento high water bungalow for 32 years before I sold it this June in preparation for moving to Washington Commons. In April when I was in the middle of getting my house ready to sell and my heart ready to move, my Washington Common friends honored me by participating in a house blessing. I am so grateful for this amazing, heartfelt experience. As our move-in date approaches, I sense that we’re all experiencing a mixture of excitement and anxiety. I’m confident that we will work through whatever challenges arise and we will become a stronger community in the process. I am looking forward to the day when I can call Washington Commons my new home.
1 Comment
Heads up! Incoming news from our neighborhood! Back in May, Barb and Terry ("B&T") rented an apartment across the street from our building to start getting acquainted with their future neighborhood - How cool is that?? (Answer: Very) B&T have been watching Washington Commons come to life since 2017 when, knowing “next to nothing about cohousing,” they accompanied a friend to a WC event. Drawn by the many attractions of community, they attended a second event in 2019 and joined “just in time to participate in design workshops.”  And now they’re learning all about the ‘hood: dining out and finding out, discovering sites and sounds, lolling and strolling. Boots on the ground! Well, okay, maybe not. Apparently some boots were not made for walkin’. "We’ve been lousy investigators of our new neighborhood,” they admit, but they’re regulars at our neighboring Tree House Cafe where they can watch our future homes take shape. “It moves really slowly when you check every day, but it’s exciting to hear construction sounds, knowing it’s our building getting closer to move-in!” (They also enjoy the sound of barking seals on the river, lazing on their rafts, but we digress.) Okay, when not hangin’ out at the Tree House, where are they? (Answer: Probably riding their bikes) The 32-mile American River Bike Trail runs from Discovery Park (an easy ride from Washington Commons) to Beal’s Point at Folsom Lake. “We have yet to bike the entire trail,” they report, “generally riding out and back 20 miles on this beautiful, mostly wooded trail alongside the American River with wonderful birding…Red-shouldered hawk, Cooper’s hawk, wild turkeys, Nuttall’s woodpecker, spotted towhee, black Phoebe, herons, egrets, Canada geese, etc.”  So, when not riding their bikes, what are they doing? (Answer: Probably traveling)
Fond travel memories from their four-month cross-country RV trip in 2016: “Hearing loons call on Farm Lake in Minnesota, loving the peacefulness of Rollins Pond in the Adirondacks, and eating an amazing hamburger with bacon onion jam!” Bacon onion jam? Are B&T foodies? (Answer: Sounds like!) They confess to “years of serious eating” in downtown Sacramento during their 15 years living there. Favorite restaurants include Magpie Cafe: “Solid farm-to-fork offerings and we love their chocolate avocado mousse!” Chocolate avocado mousse?? (Yep, foodies.) They also love the margarita pizza and wedge salad at Anonimo Pizza, and creative pizzas at Majka Pizzeria & Bakery. And then there’s happy hour at up-scale Ella, where “just the thought of their special gin & tonic, steak tartare with a popover, and caesar salad” makes Terry want to show up when the doors open. Happy hour at Ella sound fun? (Answer: Definitely!) Hmm, maybe we could join B&T in that gin & tonic, hear their travel stories about Italy’s Cinque Terra or Tahiti and Moorea, or that bike-barge adventure in the Netherlands? Or maybe get them to tell how 33 years ago when Terry, on a date with someone else, met Barb and “the rest is history.” Is that a story we want to hear? (Answer: Absolutely!) Residents of Washington Commons were all smiles as they toured their future homes on June 14! Be on the lookout for future site tour dates. Yes you heard that right. Last week, Jeff Klus of Copper Loop Assistive Listening Devices, was in our future Commons dining room with his assistants installing a copper hearing loop. What is a copper hearing loop and why would we want one in our Commons dining room? It turns out that a hearing loop gives superior listening to people with hearing loss during activities that use a microphone or sound system – such as a meeting, an educational program, or just watching a movie in the evening. How it works: A hearing loop is a copper wire that is installed in the ceiling or the floor (in our case the ceiling) in a room to provide an electro-magnetic field that connects the sound system directly to an individual’s hearing through the t-coil, or telecoil, a small copper coil in their hearing aid. It’s a science. Installing an effective loop requires a quantitative assessment of the amount of steel or other metal in the vicinity of the hearing loop. Before installation, Jeff took numerous magnetic measurements to determine how much copper wire he was going to need to offset the magnetic pull of the steel in the building. To achieve what he wanted, the installation effectively covered the whole room by providing copper wire around the edge of the room on the ceiling and then back and forth in approximately 4 foot wide strips. The hearing loop will provide excellent sound within the room under the copper coil.  Why we want this: Hearing loss is common. It is the third most common health condition following heart disease and arthritis. We want all our members and guests to hear clearly when we have our meetings and other events that utilize a microphone. This will be the place where we hold our monthly general meetings, as well as other community events. Additionally, we expect to make our Commons dining room available to others and this will enable them to use it with the knowledge that the hearing will be accessible for everyone. We know that hearing is one of our senses that can diminish over time; the hearing loop will make a big difference to our continued ability to communicate effectively with each other as we age in place.
Some communities in the Bay Area and elsewhere have many public venues with hearing loops. One of our members is excited to be going to the Oregon Festival of Music in Eugene this summer at which all of the venues are “looped”. We expect that this installation at our community will provide a wonderful benefit to our own members and inspire other in the community to provide similar accessibility. Yes, we’ve been looped and we’re excited about it. Read more about hearing loop technology here. And more about telecoils and hearing loops HERE!  “Beam me up, Scotty!”  "Look, mom, I got my name on a building!" Factoid: To signify the birth of a new building, Scandinavian iron workers, as early as 700 AD, placed a small tree atop the last beam before hoisting it into place On April 26, in heightened anticipation, an estimated 100 invitees gathered to celebrate the final beam destined for Washington Commons. Painted white for signing by owners and builders, the steel beam would, suitably, go up in the elevator shaft. (Imagine all those proud little iron atoms buzzing around, giggling the way iron atoms do, making jokes. “Beam me up, Scotty!”) Factoid: Captain Kirk never said ”Beam me up, Scotty.” (No lie. Look it up.) For an ‘uplifting’ event, Washington Commons takes the taco (you had to be there). What a day! What a party! Anne, emotionally overcome, got teary. “It really was a profound day of love and appreciation for the construction workers and our professional team—and for what we are creating.” Hard-hats off to our highly regarded construction superintendent John Randall. A construction superintendent from another MarketOne project attended our beam-signing just to see what John was up to. A MarketOne safety supervisor told Fran how proud he was that our building is going up so quickly. “And smoothly! No accidents, zero injuries!” Chris, rising to the occasion to thank several construction workers, noted a pleased but bemused response. “It was probably a first for them! But such an upbeat atmosphere of inclusiveness! Everyone eating, gabbing, laughing, and signing the beam together, so energetic and happy.” High-fives to the Social Team for topping expectations! Seeing everyone sign the beam overwhelmed Jenny. “This ceremony was an amazing way to celebrate our construction workers, UDP, investors, and Washington Commons members. I loved it!” she said, giving a shout-out to Bea, Carol, Lisa, Patrick, and Sandra. “And thanks to Nancy for the Oak Tree! And Cathy and Danny for helping plan the party! Plus Sarah from MarketOne for coming up with tables, chairs, and delicious food!” Carol’s reaction: “Wonderful beyond belief! Just a delight to break bread (fabulous Mexican feast!) and thank so many individuals involved in our project. So inclusive! Construction crew, office workers, title company and bank officials—a once-in-a-lifetime experience!“ Summing up, Stu felt the beam signing enlarged his and Willa’s appreciation for their 6-year-long journey. ”It is not just members’ money purchasing a building. Our building is people: construction workers, bankers, lenders, friends, relatives. To see them come together and sign the beam expanded our notion of who is creating this better way to live. It’s not only the future residents!” “Future residents meeting the workers building their homes is unusual,” agreed Danny. “And wonderful!” she added, beaming. Factoid: Iron is found not only on earth but in the sun and stars.  "Captain, it is highly illogical to place a Valley Oak atop this beam." Our most recent members, Terri and Laura, are both graduates of WCC's first Explorer University. Terri, who had been an explorer at WCC in 2021, stayed in contact, returned for Explorer U, and became a full member after completing the minimum 30 days. Laura, a California native, had also tested the Cohousing water and couldn't wait to dive in.  Laura Hello, I'm Laura, a 60-year old divorced woman. I retired early after a 33-year career with AT&T. I moved to Cotati CA in 2016 after living in Durango CO and Alameda CA. I became interested in co-housing after hearing about it from one of my meditation buddies when I lived in Alameda. I’ve toured many of the communities in the East Bay and North Bay and I’m very interested in moving to Washington Commons. I subletted at a co-housing community last year, for 2.5 months, in order to see if I enjoyed living in community, and I loved it. It just solidified how co-housing is the right path for me. I had been on the waitlist for two communities, but I have found that once people move into co-housing they never leave 😊. I had a chance to be on the common house committee when I was subletting, and I’ve stayed on the committee after I left, so I bring that experience to Washington Commons. My interests are movies, books, and meditation and I would love to talk to you about any of those things (I can talk about movies for hours). I’m an extrovert and I look forward to getting to know my future neighbors and doing the work to create our community connections before we all move in together.  Terri (Teresa)
"I was born in Detroit, raised in the (all white) suburbs, and escaped to Seattle as soon as I finished my undergraduate degree. I stayed for 15 years working in research labs at the University of Washington and co-parented a son who is all grown up now and settled in the Seattle area. I moved with my partner to Madison, WI, where we found a wonderful and welcoming community and I completed a PhD in the biology of cancer. In 1998 we moved to San Francisco where I continued as a cancer researcher at the UCSF Cancer Center. For the past 12 years I've been working at a small biotech company that is focused on developing genetically engineered viruses as a cancer therapy. I've experienced the ups and downs of the biotech industry, but I still love the science. Right now I'm part of a small team searching for funding to form a new spin-off company, which would be an amazing way to finish my career. (Broken record: I said the same thing 2 years ago, but this time we have more support and no COVID lockdown, though the current bank failures don't help). Outside of work I can count on my 19 year old son and almost 17 year old daughter to make me feel irrelevant and give me plenty of chances to practice my listening skills. In my free time I like to get outdoors; also reading, walking, biking, attending live music performances and playing softball. I've played in the SF Gay Softball League for ten years and hope to experience at least one more Gay World Series. I've loved the concept of cohousing since I first read about it 25 years ago." |
RSS Feed