It is <i>an</i> American dream, maybe, but not the only one. It&#x27;s certainly not the one prominent among my friends and family, who are steadily clustering ever closer together. Cohousing is popular.<p>I didn&#x27;t buy a house because I wanted a place to myself; I bought a house because I wanted to have enough space to have people over for dinner and throw parties. A house big enough for that is too big for just me, so I share it with friends. Much better than all of us living separately in apartments, or (ugh!) in entire separate houses.