by Cathedral Park Cohousing member Rebecca
As we move ever closer to moving into Portland’s newest cohousing community, all of us Cathedral Park Cohousing members are starting to get excited for all the big and little ways our lives will be changing in the coming years. Several of us are from outside of Portland, and contemplating both the downsizing to come, and a move to a whole new city. We’re loving hearing stories from friends at Skagit Commons and other cohousing communities across the Pacific Northwest as they settle into their new homes.
In addition to getting ready to move north from the Bay Area, where I’ve spent my entire adult life, I’m starting to explore some of the smaller ways my life will change—simple things, like how I cook!
Like many new projects, (and all new builds in Multnomah County) Cathedral Park Cohousing will be an all-electric build, as part of our effort to have a lighter footprint on the planet. While I am all for that in theory, I have to say I’m a little nervous about how that will work in my kitchen.
Although my childhood home had a coil electric stove, I’ve cooked on gas my whole adult life. I like to cook, but consider myself a novice. If asked my preference I would say I prefer gas, but that seems instinctive or absorbed by life around me, not the result of anything culinary or scientific. And I know the electric stoves of the present are far better then the coil burners of my childhood, with induction cooktops and other improvements.
The Sporkful podcast—a show about “science, history, race, culture, economics, and lengthy debates on the best way to layer peanut butter and jelly in a sandwich”— recently replayed an episode from 2021 that tackles the topic with its usual blend of science and humor. It’s available “on your favorite podcast platform,” as they say in the biz, or you can click here for a direct link.
I’m excited for the opportunity to try out a few different options before I make my big move. There is currently a big electrification push in the San Francisco Bay Area. Similar to Multnomah County, a local ordinance was passed a few years back requiring new buildings to be all electric as of 2020, which means no gas hookups. This is part of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating the climate crisis. From what I have learned, gas emits carbon dioxide and methane gasses, as well as other unhealthy fumes. So it seems cooking with electricity is more climate friendly, especially with a push toward wind & solar energy, and there’s no time like the present to get on board.
I recently learned of a county program that provides four-week loans of induction cooktops, with one of the pickup locations a few blocks away. I registered right away! I understand that pots and pans to which a magnet will stick–meaning stainless steel and cast iron–should be compatible and that describes what I have in my kitchen so I expect to hit the ground running when I get the call.
Check back in a few weeks for my review!