Belterra Cohousing

Mission: The Belterra Mission Statement: To create and sustain an evolving community that embraces respect for a diverse group of ecologically accountable and socially responsible people.

From www.ic.org/directory/belterra-cohousing/:

Belterra Cohousing is a multi-generational community with 30 condominium-styled homes in 5 residential buildings on a forested hillside overlooking beautiful Howe Sound and the Coast Mountains of British Columbia. We are located on Bowen Island, just 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver.

As of July 2015, we reached our goal of 30 households and had all moved in. Our vision of sustainable island living has captured the imagination of a diverse group of people, from 10-year-old Josie to retired UBC professor Paul. From the U.S. and across Canada, we have found this lovely island with a thriving arts community, small scale agriculture, active outdoor lifestyle and a variety of spiritual practices.

Belterra is a community within a community. Bowen Island has a small-town feel, an interesting history as a vacation spot popular in the early 1900s, and a continues to attract summer visitors to its two primary commercial centres with cafes, grocery stores, restaurants, fine crafts shops, galleries, and retreat centres.

If you visit the Belterra Cohousing Website, you can learn more about the talents and interests of many of our members under “Who We Are” and find out if we have listed any rentals or homes for sale. The website includes renderings of the buildings that grace our 10 acres with 30 energy-efficient homes http://www.belterracohousing.ca

At meetings, we find ourselves laughing a lot and enjoying the process of designing a community that includes community gardens, a 3,300 sf common house, greenhouse, workshop and children's play areas. We also have fantastic potluck meals, with a range of diets represented. We enjoy cooking and meal sharing and grow lots of vegetables in the summer months.

The homes and other facilities are certified BUILT GREEN® Gold and have in-floor radiant heat and water catchment. Each household may have up to "eight legs" for pets - that is two dogs, two cats, or one of each. We have adopted policies that govern smoking, fencing, and parking that were developed to respect both individuals and the group.

We are free to rent out our homes, but are a stable residential community and nearly all "owners" live at Belterra year-round and participate in the process of creating community.

Among us you will find: nurses, wood workers, teachers, musicians, techies, fine artists, therapists, social workers, body workers, doctors, seekers, gardeners, students, environmental consultants, editors, small business owners, builders, a yoga instructor, a financial analyst, a certified ecologist, an RCMP officer, a researcher, a graphic artist, a pharmacist and a librarian. We have young children and retirees, and several ethnic groups are represented.

You can find us on Facebook.

A service of the Data Commons Co-op. The project has been supported by Equal Exchange, the Cooperative Charitable Trust, the USDA, and many others - thank you! Tech volunteers over the years include: Benjamin Bradley with support from GAIA Host. Ben Mauer with support from Quilted. Paul Fitzpatrick. Ronin Tech Collective, Brattleboro Tech Collective, Sligo Computer Services. Jason Lemieux. Default map tiles courtesy of MapQuest. Default map data (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA.