Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Sam Gleeson was one of the approximately 21,500 University of Kansas students living off-campus in 2007. Unlike the majority of renters in Lawrence, he lived in a place where he determined his own rent, as well as how much it increased the next year.
Gleeson, Lawrence senior, lives in The Olive House, the oldest of the three student-led housing cooperatives in Lawrence.
“I like the idea of group housing and being able to meet new people,” Gleeson said. “And it’s pretty cheap.”
Ben Jefferies, Tonganoxie junior, replaces an old stair railing with a rope version as nontraditional student Josh Peterson watches. Jefferies has been a resident of the Sunflower House, the largest of three cooperative housing provided by the KU Student Housing Association, for more than a year.
Aaron Paden, executive director of the University of Kansas Housing Association, said he expected cooperative housing to become a popular choice for students because of the state of the economy and the increasing cost of rent,
“Co-ops originally came about because of the depression,” Paden said. “And we’re nowhere close to that, but I definitely think at a time when the economy is down, co-ops do well.”
Tenants are responsible for paying property taxes, making repairs and budgeting living expenses out of a communal fund. Paden said students learned life skills they couldn’t in a normal rental property. Gleeson, like Paden, said living in a co-op had been educational as well as helpful to his own lifestyle.
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The Sunflower House
Maximum Occupancy: 30
Rent: $250 to $350 per month
Responsibilities: 20 coordinators oversee the upkeep of the house. Such positions include repair coordinator, food coordinator or mail coordinator. Tenants must also complete six hours of chores per week.
Location: 1406 Tennessee St.
The Ad Astra House
Maximum Occupancy: 10
Rent: $315 to $335 per month
Responsibilities: Roommates hold specific job titles and complete a rotating list of household chores. The jobs include anything from gardener to treasurer to “re,” meaning “reduce, reuse and recycle educator.”
Location: 1033 Kentucky St.
The Olive House
Maximum Occupancy: Eight
Rent: $305 to $325 per month
Responsibilities: Three officers are responsible for money, dealing with the University of Kansas Student Housing Association and recycling. Each roommate rotates among cleaning the kitchen, living room, porches, bathrooms, hallways, and stairways.
Location: 1614 Kentucky St.
“It’s nice to have a system where you’re not just treating the house well to get your deposit back, but you’re treating the house well because it’s yours,” Gleeson said.
Chris Tadlock, a cooperative housing resident, moved into The Sunflower House last August and said that although the duties could seem daunting, cooperative living didn’t require any more work than traditional housing.
“Most people could do it,” Tadlock said. “It takes adjusting, but then again you need to take care of a regular home.”
Chris Jones, Lawrence graduate, lived in The Ad Astra House when it opened in 2005. He said the division of responsibilities improved how his housemates functioned as roommates as well as friends. Jones said living with 10 people was easier because they had a list of duties they could reference.
“There was a lot of diverse and different kinds of people there,” Jones said. “I think it made it an educational experience.”
Gleeson said sharing the space had its challenges, but the challenges weren’t unique to cooperative living.
“Living with seven people can be difficult,” Gleeson said. “But the problems I’ve run into in a co-op are the same problems you would run into with everybody else.”
Paden said that as with all living arrangements, cooperative living wasn’t perfect. He said he thought cooperative living would continue to thrive as well as enrich society.
“In a recession, people think that if they were to pool resources they would do much better in general, and I think we’ll see more of that given the recession,” Paden said. “It’s an exciting time to be working with co-ops.”
— — Edited by Grant Treaster
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Co-ops offer unique housing options
Nice video
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