The Times recently had a great piece about cohousing, after a visit to the Community Project. Well worth a read.

It also talks about getting started, and mentions that:

We should not underestimate how much we have learned to deal with different opinions. Many of us have made U turns. While living in a 'me' centered society most of us learned how relative our own opinions are. I think these things have major effects on our identities. You learn to distinguish in a very short time what is important to you and what is not.

Cohousing resident

Why do it?

Last night we had an impromptu potluck dinner in the woods; the food was great, the kids were running around on the plaza together, different adults playing with them in shifts; the long late-afternoon light made the new landscaping and the really beautiful architecture look even better...and I felt really happy, getting a very good reminder of why we put so much effort and angst and money into making this happen.

Denise Meier, Two Acre Wood, Sebastopol, CA, via the US cohousing WIKI