I Guess I Live Somewhere Cool Now: Life in the Davis Student Co-ops

By Helen Bansen on September 26, 2013

I have now entered my second year at UC Davis, and I’ve noticed something kind of interesting has happened as a result. Because I live in a place which is, apparently, “cool”, all of my old friends from high school want to visit me now. These are people who never even pondered visiting me in my dorm room last year, so I’m only slightly bitter. In the beginning, I thought “oh, how nice, everyone’s excited to see me” but then I realized I was living in a fool’s paradise. No, it’s not me they really want to see, it’s the people I live with, and the place in which I live. They, basically, really want to see my house. Admittedly, it’s a pretty great house, and I would want to see it too. So I can ignore their thinly veiled excitement at seeing me and pretend that they actually love me.
So, just to get this straight (and if you didn’t happen to see the title), I live in the Davis Tri-Cooperatives (which will be referred to as the coops for the rest of this segment), which is a communal housing project on campus. We have three craftsman houses in the center of campus (or, it seems like the center of campus when the marching band marches by every day and the garbage truck arrives at a quarter to 6 every morning), they are beautifully built houses, very sturdy and full of enthusiastic, hearty young hippies. So, to quell the fears of the adults that have been worried, and to answer the increasingly personal questions I have gotten from the various young people who have also asked, here’s a list of theoretically important information about the coops. These are the frequently asked questions, if you will.
1. Do you shower?
Yes. We have two fully functioning showers in my house (DSC), the downstairs one is ADA accessible, as is the entire lower level of the house.
2. Do you shower together?
No. That would be a huge waste of time.
3. Do you have doors?
Yes. Of course we have doors. I admit that I don’t understand this one, because why wouldn’t we have doors? That would be completely annoying and illogical. 13 people live in the house, and we all have all our own beds, our own doors, our own dressers, and desks, and on and on. We all have belongings. I think it makes sense to have belongings.
4. What’s that noise?
Chickens. It’s chickens.
5. Why is everyone always naked?
No one is “always naked”. We’re college students, we go to class, work, etc. We go grocery shopping, and clothing shopping, and do various other things that are expected in normal, everyday activity. People are sometimes naked, I will not deny that. I am only naked in the shower. The rest of the time, I, and most of the people in my house and the other houses (as far as I know) wear clothes. But, it’s early yet.
6. Do you have a floor?
Yes. I live on the second floor of the house. If we didn’t have a floor, I would fall through. I prefer not falling through the floor, so I like it. It’s green, at least in my room. It’s a very solid floor, I am fond of it.
7. How can I live there?
Come to dinner! We’ll give you information about if and when we’re accepting applications. This is a more acceptable question to ask. I prefer it.

Really, we’re all very friendly and we’d love to have you visit, anytime we’re home.

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