FREE: Wednesday, Oct. 14, 6:00-7:30 PM (virtual and in person), sponsored by CohousingMN
View on your own or with others at the Hamline Midway Library, 1558 W Minnehaha Ave, St. Paul.
Housing advocate David Ackos recently saw and studied something in Germany that was striking: lovely intentional communities average people can afford. Ackos thinks this co-op-based model has the potential to help transform how human needs are met in the US. They also see ways to apply the model to housing and cohousing, which remain stubbornly expensive.
“I look forward to sharing some of my research from Berlin and Leipzig on ways people manage combined cohousing and co-op projects and how those ideas fit together well,” said David. “I’ll share pictures of Spreefeld and Ourhouse, as well as the SoWo (Solidarity Housing) cooperative.”
David’s research was completed while working on a Master’s degree in Urban Management at Technische Universitat Berlin. Their thesis was titled “Transforming Housing Systems Via Shared Ownership: Advancing decommodified cooperative housing in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota”. As a researcher, organizer, writer and teacher, David is keen on helping change systems to make people’s lives better.
David is currently working on two tenant-to-shared ownership conversions, and founding a multi-generational, mixed-income, and mixed-ethnicity cooperative with friends and loved ones in the Twin Cities. They will share some about these projects.