In Cassandra’s Parents on Board report, 66% of Millennial parents said they were “building a village” that consists of their friends with children. The New York Times recently reported that women are joining forces under one roof, sharing a load of child care and household bills through the age-old power of sisterhood. The living arrangement isn’t necessarily novel — mothers have been house-sharing for centuries - but it has definitely accelerated in the wake of the pandemic. This is part of the larger trend of parents stretching traditional boundaries of what a family is and taking matters into their own hands to find creative solutions.

The Neighborhood NYC in Brooklyn, started last summer and currently has 23 people living in it, aims to “bring high-agency, emotionally intelligent New Yorkers within walking distance of one another,” or, as they call it, “clustering.” Founder Priya Rose and her husband Andrew say they’re trying to “combine the serendipity of a college campus, the co-creation of Burning Man, the agency of Silicon Valley, the vigor of a Midwestern high school track coach, and the culture of New York City.” The ultimate goal is to get 100 friends in a year and eventually “1000 ambitious, diverse people into one square mile of each other.”

Located in California, Haven Co-living is a project for wellness lovers where “living with intention is a daily choice.” It is fully equipped with yoga rooms, a spa, a screening room, and an accountability community to take breathwork classes. Not far away, UP(st)ART is another communal living space for artists and musicians with studios for multiple creative endeavors.