As the sun shot long shadows across the lush central garden, the scent of long-stewed brisket wafted out of the kitchen, permeating the air. The Craftsman-style sofas in the wood-panelled living room were empty now, but shelves of framed photos of members remained crowded on a nearby shelf. The cook went outside and rang a bell. Dinner time.
The idyllic scene is a family gathering of sorts — a chosen family. The 20 or so who dined together that Tuesday night are members of Berkeley Cohousing on Sacramento Street in West Berkeley, the city’s oldest cohousing community, where residents join together for a communal meal they cook themselves three times a week and everyone — young, old and in between — has a seat at the table.
Since its founding in 1994, Berkeley Cohousing has been a haven for old-time Berkeley values that emphasize cooperation and community with an underlying counter-culture vibe. It’s also a model for other cohousing and cooperative living arrangements, which are on the rise as the cost of housing spirals upward. In the fall, Berkeley Moshav will open on San Pablo Avenue, across the street from what might be a Frolic Community, now in the feasibility stage. Smaller, more experimental developments are also in the works. In addition to affordability, proponents of cohousing boast of the social benefits of multigenerational living and, for seniors, the ability to age in place…