The community at Washington Village
Member bios
Anne C.
I’m passionate about helping people, using my creativity, flora, the beauty of patterns, spirituality of all religions and friends and friendship. My husband David and I joined Washington Village because we want cooperative, supportive living, creating and building a unique community in Boulder as an example of how community lifestyle enhances individual lives.
My husband and I have been married 25 years and I am realizing the joy of loving as it deepens and matures. We have two sons ages 24 and 31. We also have a three year old Portuguese water dog, Bella, and a 17 year old cat, Prudence. I was born in Denver, CO, and grew up in Englewood, CO. I went to local schools up to college. My money took me as far as Creighton University in Omaha for my Bachelors in Education and History.
I’m retired now, but previously was a teacher, landscape designer, and community planner. I’m currently establishing a spiritual direction practice for people who want to explore and grow their relationship of the divine. I was in the Peace Corp from 67-’69 teaching in Saratak Secondary School outside of the town of Saratak, Sarawak on the island of Borneo. I’m 65 and excited about being a healthy, physically active elder.
Carole L.
I am passionate about the journey of life. I am a meditator in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition. I love to dance which now is solely Argentine tango. And I am passionate about serving others through my work as a psychotherapist and walking the path of healing for those who have life challenging illnesses, caring for their family members who are dying and those bereaved. I also love to do relationship counseling. I enjoy writing, good film, the ocean, dream groups, labyrinth work and generally being in the beauty of Colorado.
To live in community means a lot to me. As I age I want to know my neighbors more than ever. To offer a listening ear and to know I am not alone when I have that simple cold is a great form of comfort. I value relationships in all forms and WV will give me both alone time and opportunities for simple together times.
I have 3 daughters, my eldest died 10 years ago from cancer and I wrote a book about my grief journey. I have one daughter nearby, married with 2 children ages 5 and 2. Another daughter and family live in Atlanta.
I grew up in Connecticut and did my undergraduate work in mathematics at Wagner College on Staten Island. I have always loved the study of psychology and philosophy and in 1992 graduated with a masters degree in psychology from Naropa University here in Boulder.
Darrell I.
I'm married to Kathy, and we just returned from Boulder to our current home in Dunstable, Massachusetts.
As with so many things, these days, Google provided my introduction to WV. I was searching on phrases like "new urbanism," "sustainability,""walkability," and "cohousing." (I have a friend who introduced me to the concept of cohousing about ten years ago. He couldn't reserve a spot in a local cohousing community, so he bought a house right next door and participates in the community.) Kathy and I were looking for
something appropriate for the next phase of our lives, and we wondered if we could find something that connected with those values. Also, I spent 18 years as an academic, so I was interested in there being a
college or university nearby. The academic community is another kind of community I treasure. We had other requirements relating to climate, bugs, reasonable proximity to friends and relatives, and other things.
Boulder met more of our criteria than any other place we could find, as did WV, within the city of Boulder.
I flew in to Boulder a week ago Tuesday. I met with Jim and others on Thursday. Kathy flew in on Saturday, and we both met again with Jim, Georgette, and others on Monday and Tuesday. We flew back home
yesterday (Wednesday.) It was all very whirlwind. During that time, I put many of our criteria to the test -- e.g., walkability. I had a pedometer with me, and it turns out that I averaged 5 miles a day for the 8 days I as there. I walked over 7 miles in the rain on Thursday,and Kathy and I walked over 8 miles on another day. An important criterion was to be able to walk to the store for fresh vegetables for dinner, and to be able to meet most of our needs without resorting to driving. We also like to ride our bikes.
We felt positively enough about the whole experience to put down a deposit, and we're very hopeful that the back and forth of design and negotiation that remains will culminate in a final commitment.
A little more about me: My first career was spent designing alternative strategies for adult learning, first at the University of California, San Diego (where I also got a degree in Philosophy), and then at the
Western Behavioral Sciences Institute in La Jolla, CA. I became a self-taught software developer to write communications software to facilitate education at a distance, and that led to a second career as a software engineer -- first at a start-up business (which brought me to Massachusetts), then at Digital Equipment Corporation, and then at Avid Technology. Over the last six or seven years, Kathy and I have developed a number of web-based businesses. I'm an amateur singer and guitar player, and I'm hopeful that I can find others to make music with. I'm an avid wood worker. I have recently taken up the cause of
civil politics, and have done some writing on the subject
David C.
I am a Southwestern boy, born in Tucumcari, New Mexico. At age 10, the family moved to Englewood, Colorado, where I met my future wife, Anne, my first day in fifth grade. I went on to CU, getting degrees in architecture and fine art. Following Army service in Viet Nam, I settled in Boulder to practice architecture. Anne and I re-met at our 20th high school reunion and soon married. We have two fine boys, age 24 and 30 (and the obligatory cat and dog). As we slide into age 65, Anne and I love to travel when possible, are always reading, and have taken up biking together.
My passion has been the visual arts in its many forms, including drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, and architecture. For the past forty years, I have been focused on architecture, becoming a principal in Everrit Zeigel Architects in 1986, and a founding principal of OZ Architecture in 1989. Design projects have been very diverse, ranging from small residential to large commercial, and from small park structures to large urban spaces and village centers. In recent years my focus has been on the design of mountain resort villages across the country, with an emphasis on sustainable design. I am now reconnecting to my earlier interests in fine art.
My wife, Anne, and I currently live in a comfortable home in near North Boulder Park, several blocks west of Washington Village. We would like a place where neighbors are more committed to each other, and are willing to take the time to support one another as we each continue to pursue our individual passions. We feel that Washington Village will provide both the location, and the potential for us to help create a community, to simplify, to grow, and to live more sustainably in community.I am currently seeking a warm and loving home for my aging 1941 Packard.
Kathy I.
The challenge of trying to introduce myself in a reasonable number of words takes me back 20 years, when I posted a note on an electronic bulletin board that led to a blind date with Darrell. Our refrigerator is a cartoon of two birds sitting on a telephone line with the caption "We met online." We have a musically-obsessed 17 year old son, Ben, who will graduate from high school next year. Our plan is to move some time after he heads off to college. I'll turn 54 on the day of WV's public groundbreaking. I have yet to determine whether that has any cosmic significance.Before I entered 4th grade, my family moved around a lot, always moving on to a new construction project. My favorite place we lived was a two-street town half way up the tallest mountain in Australia, which isn't very tall, given that its peak is only slightly higher than Boulder's elevation. I attribute my love of the outdoors to having spent my early years running around in the woods behind our house, catching tadpoles and lizards, looking for 4-leaf clovers, and chasing boys up trees. I hope to return to those woods again, sometime in the next few years. I spent most of my growing-up years in the San Francisco Bay Area. In college, I pursued two undergrad degrees - Product Design and Art Design, which tells you something about how far I will go to avoid making a decision. My first "real" job was designing architectural patterns for Riyadh International Airport; I had the good fortune of walking into the job interview with geometric designs in my portfolio the day after the client had rejected their designs. Living in SF gave me my first experience with the "new urbanist" lifestyle. My commute was on foot. I was also impressed with how the bus system makes it easy for the elderly to live independently – hence my attraction to the bus stop next to WV. I also lived in Charlestown (near the Bunker Hill Monument) for seven years, where my favorite way to spend a day was to take off walking wherever my feet took me – knowing that I would inevitably run into something interesting going on. Darrell and I just enjoyed a whole string of days like that in Boulder. My second (and still favorite) job was cashiering in a Whole Foods-like store, which left me with a wonderful memory of an older couple who walked to the store to buy a few things almost every day. She would squint at me through horn-rimmed, rhinestone glasses, and he was a very sweet man, who seemed to have no other purpose in life than to do whatever made her happy. I may need to get some rhinestone glasses, just to amuse the cashiers when Darrell and I make our daily visits to the Ideal Market. I spent most of my career earning a living by developing web-based training and online documentation for high tech companies. For the past several years, Darrell and I have combined our skills in various efforts to "build communities through communication", I am most proud of the work we did on a community website for Dunstable. I'm currently working with some other people in our community to raise awareness (and funds) for the fine arts programs at our public high school. I am sure I will have no trouble finding something like that to throw my energy into after we settle in Boulder.
Darrell and I have had many conversations about what we want/need in the next phase of our lives together. It's a long list, but WV seems to have most of those things covered. We have seen other housing possibilities in Boulder that would also meet many of our criteria, but the unique thing about WV is that it starts out as a group of people who understand the value of community in one's neighborhood, and are committed to building supportive relationships with each other. That's why we're here.
Linda S.
I’ve lived in Boulder since 1997 (in Colorado since 1973), and have been happily retired from my staff position at the University of Colorado School of Law since 2003. My dearest companion, BJ the Pomeranian/Lhasa Apso, passed away in November 2010, and has promised to send more loving animals my way when the time is right.
My passions are art, writing and animals (and yes, food; but only if it doesn’t have a face. I’m a vegetarian). Since retiring, I have given most of my time to creative efforts (see my web site at http://www.lcsarts.com) and volunteering at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley. I also love books and film, and enjoy a healthy balance between community and solitude. I believe cohousing offers a wonderful opportunity for finding that balance, as well as for aging in place and living in an accessible and convenient location in beautiful Boulder.
My relatives are from New York, south Florida and Israel. Although I came to Colorado because my then husband had a job here, I love the “big sky” of the Rocky Mountain west, and haven’t found a better place to live. I enjoy travel and plan to travel again (I’ve already been to Israel, Mexico, Canada and Hawai’i, and have traveled to or through most of the states of the U.S.).
I have a Master’s degree in Education and also went to art school for a couple of years. It was eye opening to have two education degrees and discover teaching was not my calling, so my work life resembles a cross between a smorgasbord and a meandering stream for which, in retrospect, I am deeply grateful. I’ve done writing (curriculum materials, stories, memoirs, essays); administrative work for entities large and small; owned my own grant-writing and apartment cleaning businesses; and I continue to create artwork to profit charitable causes. I look forward to contributing to a productive, contemplative life in a supportive community.
Ryan D.
Bio coming soon
Todd S.
remains in a blissful state of denial, absolutely convinced he is thirty years old. He does not understand why others refer to his platinum blond hair as “white.” Although he has traveled to nearly eighty countries, he despairs of reaching the hundred countries that was his goal five years ago when he was twenty-five. So far he has lived in Canada, Malaysia, Serbia, Croatia, and the United States. Interpol has not yet discovered his permanent address.
His careers have been varied, having let each of his multiple personalities enjoy at least one career: “chief state planner;” “psychologist;” “monk;” “librarian;” “monetization director;” “psychosocial coordinator;” “international consultant;” “social worker;” “researcher;” “statistician;” “special ed teacher;” and “newspaper deliverer.” He always wanted to be an archaeologist, but never got around to it since the personality assigned to the task chose to watch “The History Channel” instead. His goal over the next five years is to have at least one international consulting position each year. So far, that has worked out for the last two years. Luckily there are enough countries left to be kicked out of.
Friends describe his personality as “pleasant”; however the universe of friends is too small for the description to be statistically significant. He is kept by two cats “Getdown!” and “Stoppit” who tolerate him as long as he feeds them and keep their litter box clean. They cite examples in the past where he has been deficient in these easy tasks. In his spare time he edits his website www.eleusinianmysteries.org since he apparently has nothing better to do than try to figure out something that happened 2,500 years ago. His success in doing that is limited since he often has difficulty figuring out what happened today.
Featured Member
Linda Spiegler
Click here for Article: Sustainable Eating: An Opportunity for Cohousing to Lead the Way
