• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Glen Park Association

Up-to-the-minute news from Glen Park

  • Home
  • Glen Park Association
    • About the Glen Park Association
    • Join the GPA
    • GPA Board Contacts
    • GPA Meeting Minutes
    • Bylaws
    • Neighborhood boundaries
  • News Stories
    • Glen Park News
    • Editor’s Picks
  • Greenway
    • About
    • Greenway Plan
  • GPA Grants Program
  • Crime & Safety
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Volunteer Sign Ups
    • Event Submission
    • Author Submissions

Senior Cohousing Dreams

January 15, 2025 by Heather World

They say from little acorns great oak trees grow, and few know that better than Glen Park’s Nicholas Dewar, who has spent the last 12 years plotting the future of the Greenway, oak by oak.

Nicholas Dewar

Now the 17-year resident of Glen Park has his eye on a bigger project: nurturing the first senior cohousing network in the city.

“Seniors have needs that go way beyond grab-bars and memory exercises” says the 74-year-old Dewar, who is leading an initiative to create senior cohousing in San Francisco.

“To stay healthy, we need to avoid isolation. The best antidote to isolation is community; the best way to ensure community is to build community around us and that’s what cohousing does. In cohousing, community is built-in.”

Dewar and others are forming a core group of potential future residents, launching the process with a free workshop in San Francisco on January 22.

“Aging Successfully … what does that really mean?” will be an opportunity to explore ideas and connect with others who are asking the same big questions about aging and living well. Those who are interested will be invited to join a ten-week series of meetings to delve further into these questions and consider the benefits of developing senior cohousing in San Francisco.

Cohousing lunch

Cohousing is an innovative housing model that started in Denmark in the 1960s and, since the late 1980s, more than 150 cohousing projects have been established in the United States.

In the Bay Area cohousing first appeared in Emeryville in 1992 and now there are seven cohousing projects in Alameda and Contra Costa counties: five are up and running and two are in formation.

Although these cohousing projects are mostly for households of any age, cohousing is very well suited to seniors because its fundamental structure so effectively addresses the well recognized scourge of old age: isolation.

The structure includes relatively compact individual homes with substantial shared facilities, a design that produces inevitable interaction with other residents, a size limited to 20-30 households, and a collaborative organization for management and maintenance of the entire project.

This fosters a strong sense of community that is normally reinforced with frequent and regular shared meals as well as co-care agreements.

Despite its reputation for innovation, San Francisco has no cohousing project.

The high costs of real estate and construction, zoning provisions, local pressure to prevent residential development — especially high-density projects — and local government reluctance to step up and respond substantially to demands for more housing are large barriers to cohousing projects.

Dewar believes that changes to state and local legislation as well as some disruption to the local political environment in the latest elections “seem to have improved the conditions so, this time, we have a good chance to really get a senior cohousing project built.”

More information about the workshop on Wednesday, January 22, 5:30 to 7 p.m., is available at sfcohousing.com where those who wish to attend can register.

The workshop will be held at 3512 16th Street (a six-minute walk from the Castro Muni station). There is no charge to participate, but prior registration at sfcohousing.com is requested.

Filed Under: Housing, Meeting announcement, Senior citizens

Primary Sidebar

IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES

Upper Noe Neighbors Community Meeting Wednesday, May 21, 7 p.m.
Upper Noe Recreation Center auditorium
295 Day Street
Agenda


San Francisco Department of Public Works logoDPW Love Our City
District 8 Cleanup Day
Saturday, June 7, 9 a.m. to afternoon
Learn more and sign up here


 

Logo Center for Creative Exploration

The Center for Creative Exploration
Explore all the Colors of the Rainbow
one-day workshop
Saturday, June 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
300 Chenery Street
Learn more and link to registration here


Weeding Party
June 21, 10 a.m. to noon
100 block of Arlington at Charles
Join neighbors on the North end of the Cut to keep down the weeds and beautify top to bottom. Tools, lunch and good company provided.


Monthly cleanup on the Greenway
First Saturday of the Month (usually)
Click here to learn more


Friends of Glen Canyon’s
Glen Canyon Habitat Restoration
Every third Saturday 9:30 a.m to noon
Sign up here

Subscribe to this Newsletter

Sign Up for Glen Park Association News Updates:

* indicates required

Check It Out at the Glen Park Library

Click the above button or here to see all upcoming Glen Park Branch Library events. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to get events highlights in your inbox.

Glen Park Rec Center

Glen Canyon Park sign
Click here for latest
Glen Park Rec Center
class schedule


Saturdays 3-4:45 p.m.
Questions? Call 415-239-4007


GP Movie Night Schedule

Renew Your Glen Park Association Membership for 2025

Join the Glen Park Association and help promote our community’s interests. Together, we can secure improvement funds, publicize neighborhood concerns and strive to speak as one voice on neighborhood and city issues.

Membership in the Glen Park Association is only $10 annually and can be purchased online.

Glen Park Association Advertising Sponsors

JE_Digital Small Space Ad
Diamond Heights Digital Ad
GPA Ad- Perez Construction ad 6.27.22 v Glen Park
moroco
Center for Creative Exploration - adult
JE_Digital Small Space Ad
Diamond Heights Digital Ad
GPA Ad- Perez Construction ad 6.27.22 v Glen Park
moroco
Center for Creative Exploration - adult
previous arrow
next arrow
Shadow

Current Weather & Air Quality

Glen Park featured on…

FacebookSF ChronInstagramTwitter

Join the Glen Park Association on Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons
Glen Park Association is at San Francisco Public Library Glen Park Branch.
2 days ago
Glen Park Association

Photos and Fun courtesy of the Glen Park Library!
It was a great turnout at the Glen Park Library Open House on Saturday May 17th!

Thank you to all who attended and a big thank you to Glen Park Branch Library Manager Darren Heiber and his staff for a fantastic day!! 🙌🏽

San Francisco Public Library Arion Press | Artist Books Museum of Craft and Design Rafael Mandelman 🏳️‍🌈 #glenparklibrary #arionpress #museumofcraftanddesign #glenparksf #sanfrancisco #InCommunity
... See MoreSee Less

Photos and Fun courtesy of the Glen Park Library! 
It was a great turnout at the Glen Park Library Open House on Saturday May 17th!

Thank you to all who attended and a big thank you to Glen Park Branch Library Manager Darren Heiber and his staff for a fantastic day!! 🙌🏽

@sfpubliclibrary @arionpress @museumofcraftanddesign @rafaelmandelmand8 #glenparklibrary #arionpress #museumofcraftanddesign #glenparksf #sanfrancisco #incommunity
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • likes 0
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

0 CommentsComment on Facebook

Glen Park Association is at Glen Park Recreation Center.
2 days ago
Glen Park Association

Qi Gong & Tai Chi Thursdays at the Glen Park Rec Center!

Thursdays 2:00PM - 2:45PM
Room #1
Led by led by Ashima Sarin

Beginners and All Levels of Mobility Are Welcome! It’s FREE and drop-in!

(There will be no class the second half of June and July)

📍Glen Park Rec Center, 70 Elk Street

QUESTIONS? CALL 415-239-4007
... See MoreSee Less

Qi Gong & Tai Chi Thursdays at the Glen Park Rec Center!

Thursdays  2:00PM - 2:45PM 
Room #1
Led by led by Ashima Sarin

Beginners and All Levels of Mobility Are Welcome! It’s FREE and drop-in! 

(There will be no class the second half of June and July)

📍Glen Park Rec Center, 70 Elk Street 

QUESTIONS? CALL 415-239-4007
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • likes 4
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

0 CommentsComment on Facebook

Blog Roll

Coyote Yipps
Friends of Upper Noe Recreation Center
Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project
Open SF History
Sunnyside Conservatory
Sunnyside History
Sunnyside Neighborhood Association
Tramps of San Francisco
Upper Noe Neighbors

Copyright © 2025 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in