Co-Housing came to the US from Denmark in the late 1980s. It is an intentional neighborhood in which clustered small homes are built around shared pedestrian outside areas with cars kept to the periphery of the site. A common house provides overnight guest rooms, laundry facilities, art and carpentry space, and a kitchen and dining space large enough for the community to eat together at least three times a week. Green building strategies are almost always incorporated into Co-Housing projects.

Joyce Plath was the designer and project manager for Marsh Commons, an infill Co-Housing project on the edge of the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary.She lived in Marsh Commons for five years and hopes to live in another Co-Housing project soon.

"Joyce is a problem solver. When the Marsh Commons development project got derailed by the discovery of toxic contamination on site, Joyce figured out the only possible way to move forward and brought the group along with her. Time and again the project looked stalled, and each time Joyce identified the only possible path forward and made it all happen." - Lynnette Chin

Currently Joyce is working on the design for Creekside Commons, now in the planning stages. It is part of a larger Danco housing development on the edge of the Bottoms in Arcata. Among the most exciting features are the restoration of an adjacent creek, the development of a 26 acre parcel to the west for wetland nurseries, trails, a park and a community supported agriculture project. The Co-housing common house will share some of it's space during week days with day care and after school care programs that will serve the larger housing development. The project is within walking distance of three schools, coffee shops, a grocery store, bus stops, and bike paths to the beach, university, and down town. Joyce is involved in the site plan for the entire project and the architectural design of the Co-housing and day care buildings.

Joyce has also entered the early talking stage regarding design consulting for a senior Co-Housing project for Eureka. Many thoughtful seniors are now looking at Co-housing as a model for aging in community.

"I was one of the original group with Joyce who envisioned the Marsh Commons. Due to the uniqueness of the project and unforeseen conditions the project had a series of problems. While many of us despaired, Joyce was persistent in problem solving; sometimes stubborn but always creative. It is clear to me that without her drive and tenacity the project would have bogged down, perhaps failed." - Kit Crosby-Williams