Life at Summit Ave. Co-op

People are always intrigued when I tell them I lived in a co-op for 8 years in Madison, WI.

"Is that like a kibbutz?" they ask.

I don't know enough about kibbutz life to answer that. But I can write about life at Summit. I know it sounds like a commune, but it wasn't all that flaky. We shared a living space, not wispy ideologies. We weren't even hippies ...

Summit Ave. Coop is an independent housing cooperative in Madison, WI. In the 1990s, we had room for 18 people : 3 double rooms and the rest were singles. Lots of common areas (sun room, tv room, living room, kitchen, dining rooms, bathrooms, yard).

To become a member, I had to go through the "member-shipping" process where I attended 3 evening meals, meet as many members as possible. I think I also had to write an essay for those members who missed me at dinner. At some point, the members voted on me--whether or not they thought I'd fit in and be a good, productive member of the House, or not.

Everyone had chores (we called them "workjobs") to keep the house clean and running well. Some of the workjobs were :

Cook
Clean
Garbage
Compost
Supplies
Phone Bill (before the proliferation of cell phones)
Maintenance
Rags & Rugs
Granola
Yard Work / Shovel Snow
Mail Forwarding
Bills
Bookkeeping
Recycling

(How do I remember all these? I was Workjob Chair for a few years. That means I was in charge of making sure everyone else did their workjobs, that the house stayed clean and continued to run well. That was my first experience with supervising people.)

Everyone had to do Floors or Dishes (cleaning up after the 5 evening meals each week) once every 2-1/2 weeks, or so.

Rent was incredibly reasonable. It was the only way I would ever have been able to live in that beautiful neighborhood, in a big 1920s mansion at the top of the hill (It was called Summit for a reason!) only 3 blocks from the University campus.

Part of our monthly rent paid for a food share. For a very reasonable fee, everyone got to eat 5 community meals a week, plus access to a variety of dry goods (rice, pasta, flour, beans, spices, etc.) the rest of the week. Everyone also had a bin and 1/2 a fridge-shelf for their own stock of dry goods and cold items.

If you couldn't be there for the 6pm dinner, you could request a "Saved Meal." The person on Floors that night would save you a plate-full of food to be eaten later.

There was (and is still) a long RED table in the dining room (with sturdy library chairs) where we would eat together. I hope they hang onto that table! It's a part of the myth and lore of the house! Dinners could be pretty lively affairs. This photo is from the reunion in 2006 :


Looking back, this was a GREAT situation for someone like me (and quite a few other coop dwellers, I reckon) who tended to hibernate at home. I didn't have to go out to find social interaction. There was plenty going on right there in the House. I made some great friends there over the years. I even met my husband there. ;-)

Here's a picture from our wedding. One year after leaving the Coop, we still had plenty of ties to Summit Ave. Coop (Yes, even the dog lived there for 4 years, but that's another story ...) :


The mix of the house members was about 50:50 men to women and 50:50 students to working people. Foreign students were welcome to membership. This mix of members seemed unusual to Summit. Many of the other coops in town seemed to be mostly transitory students, dirty, and poorly run. That's why I never bothered to apply at any of the other coops I had seen. Summit had several long-time members (1 recently celebrated 30 years there!) and I am certain that that continuity has contributed to Summit's longevity and success.

Here's another photo from the Reunion in 2006. Many of the members from 10 years ago now have kids :

Long Live Summit Ave. Coop!