I've lived in cohousing - a neighborhood based on Danish principles of community living - for 14 years. Here's why I never want to live elsewhere.

As manager of the community's kitchen supplies, I can get cranky at my neighbors, especially when someone leaves an empty bottle of salad dressing in the fridge instead of throwing it out.

But small irritations like that are outweighed by all the times someone has offered to pick something up for me at the grocery store, helped me move furniture, or taken care of my cat when I was out of town.

Once I drove a neighbor who wasn't feeling well to urgent care, and another time I moved onto another neighbor's couch to care for her after a surgery. When my wife and I were able to legally marry in 2008, my neighbors helped organize the ceremony, and their kids made decorations.

We often take turns babysitting so parents can have a night out, and kids know that they can go to any adult for anything, whether it's advice or to borrow a deck of cards. These little kindnesses are what binds cohousing communities together, according to The New York Times.

When I come into the common house on a dinner night, the babble of voices lifts my heart. If I've had a bad day, I know I'll feel better after a home-cooked meal and dinner table conversation with my neighbors.

Every so often, we have what we call a cohousing moment: a delightful confluence that could only happen in cohousing.

For example, at the end of major building repairs last year, we invited the family-run construction company to join us for a potluck. They came with extended family and a roast pig and entertained everyone with traditional Samoan drumming, dance, and song.

A friend from down the block walked in halfway through the performance. He sat for a while, watching the dancers and the enthusiastic audience that filled our common room. "What is happening?" he asked me, and I could only shrug. It was a cohousing moment.

The Cohousing Association of the United States lists 165 active cohousing communities (148 built and another 17 under construction), and there are 140 in some stage of development.

Part of this growth is a recent boom in senior cohousing, according to The New York Times. As of August 2017, the Cohousing Association of the United States reported 13 completed senior cohousing developments, with two more being built and another 13 coming together, in the US.

Many seniors have embraced this form of community living, and it's on the rise in the US. Cohousing is a beautiful way to build meaningful social connections, and I couldn't imagine living any other way.