What if housing offered more than four walls and gave residents a real voice in how they live? In this episode, Dia talks with McKenzie Jones, a founding owner of Ithaca’s Aurora Pocket Neighborhood Cooperative, about co-living, cohousing, pocket neighborhoods, and legal housing co-ops.Learn how these models can help people pool resources, share costs and responsibilities, build trust, and create a practical safety net without pretending community life is effortless.McKenzie explains why clear agreements, democratic decision-making, and “one member, one vote” matter, and how cooperative habits can begin without buying property: a shared meal, garden, snowblower, or offer of help can be a first step. Could your neighborhood do this? Listen and subscribe to the Ithaca Local Economy Lab.In this episode:How a housing cooperative can actually work, who holds title, who decides, and what happens when someone can't payThe decision-making matrix: the foundational tool co-ops use before they decide who mows the lawnThe surprisingly varied types of financing available to cooperative developersThe safety net: how housing co-ops are mutual aid and social justice juggernautsWhere housing co-ops and worker co-ops share the same principlesHow to start building cooperative community right now, with no money and no paperworkResources and LinksThe Worker Place: theworkerplace.coopLaunch.coopNASCO (National Association of Student Cooperatives): nasco.coopSustainable Economies Law Center: theselc.orgCo-Op Decision Matrix: www.stl.coop/coop-guide/decisionmakingIthaca Local Economy Lab: ithacalocaleconomylab.comFoundation for Intentional Community: www.ic.orgThe Practically Real Team:Jake Gribschaw - Technical Advisor linkedin.com/in/jgribschawStacey Cornelius - Associate Producer agencyofwords.comSonia Simone - Content Strategist remarkable-communication.comErin O'Shaughnessy - Creative Consultant psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/erin-o-shaughnessy-depoe-bay-or/373808Yen Ospina - Artist yenospina.comCarsie Blanton - Musician carsieblanton.comPhotography by Forest Floor Creatives forestfloorcreatives.comProduced by Practically Real Enterprises, LLC. Hosted by Dia.