Intentional Communities

[Droopy]

Or more commonly and less pc known as communes.

Have you ever thought about living on a commune? I've been doing a little research on the internet and I like the concept of living with a bunch of people. That's probably due to my current lifestyle. I'm single and I have no children and I'd like to stay that way. But I want to be around people. I don't want to live alone.

Ideally, I would just like to share a large house with a bunch of people where we all have our separate incomes but share in the housing costs and meal times. It seems like you could live super cheap that way and still have a sense of community.

I've looked at some of the bigger, more popular communes and they are all about income sharing. Basically what you do is you agree to put in 40 hours a week at their on site business and in return you get a little spending cash, housing, health care, and even clothes at no cost to you. You don't really have a whole lot of personal assets living with that kind of arrangement, though. You don't even get to keep a personal vehicle. That all seems a bit restrictive to me.

What are your thoughts on intentional communities?

[Danger Mouse]

1. Is there a PC term for EVERYTHING now?

I'm not taking a dump, I'm producing fertilizer.

[KitchenWitch]

2. I lived in one where we all had jobs outside the community

for about a year, during my early twenties. Idealistically speaking, it is a really cool concept. My experience was not quite so positive. Let's just say that some members of the community were more equal than others.

[unsavedtrash]

3. They seem great but I'm not the kind of person who would do well in one.

After having various roommates and then sharing a house with four other people I realized I have to make sure bills are paid on time, the house is clean, and most importantly my space will remain private. I am not saying everyone would be late on bills, or are slobs but in my past experience, sharing a living space with a group did not go well. My SO and I do well living with each other but both value a quiet life.

[XemaSab]

4. I've had shitloads of roommates

and lemme say, there's always something. :P

[Droopy]

5. That seems to be the trend so far with the replies

Do you still share a space with someone or some people or do you live alone?

[XemaSab]

7. I live *alone*

I probably pay 300 more than I would pay living with someone else, but if I don't feel like doing the dishes tonight, I'm just going to leave them in the sink and that's okay.

Ya know? :shrug:

[Syncronaut Seven]

6. If this intrests you, Persue it.

Residencies are available nationwide.

People skills are a must.

Begin within.

[Droopy]

10. I get along with folks alright

But I think I'm going to have to start from scratch if I want a place to live like I'm thinking about. Do you have any experience with intentional communities?

[auntAgonist]

8. It just might work for you Droopy

I can see it being of great advantage. The only thing that came to mind thought was if you're trucking on the midnight shift, if people are home during the day it might disrupt your rest. Other than that, I think communal living is a great idea. I think I could handle it. I used to live in a rooming type house back in the early 70's. We each had our own bedroom/sitting rooms and shared the kitchen and baths. We provided our own food but often ate as a group. We got along very well. Each paid their rent to the house owner.

hope to see you over on the PortalGates soon. Notice I've got a link on my sig line now.

:hi:
:hug:
aA

[Droopy]

11. Thanks, aA

Hey, have the portal gates gone public now?

[auntAgonist]

12. only the main page

Still need passwords etc to get in. We'd like to grow a bit :)

:hug:

aA

[XemaSab]

19. Ah yes, there's no fight like the

"I have to get up in 4 hours to go to work and I'm fucking exhausted because you had your TV on loud LAST NIGHT TOO and so I worked all day on about 3.5 hours of sleep so can you TURN THAT SHIT OFF RIGHT NOW!" fight.

Good times.

[Critters2]

9. I've thought about it. Most wouldn't tolerate my 4 pets,

and I won't give them up. So, it won't happen, but I hate living alone. I don't think people are built to live alone, but our culture assumes you're either with an SO, or you live alone. We need more options. I'm interested in communitarianism.

[sbj405]

13. I have some friends that live in cohousing communities

http://www.cohousing.org/default.aspx

Your own space, but there's also the community aspect of it. They love it.

[Droopy]

14. Thanks for the link

Maybe they will have some info about communities in my area.

[Orsino]

15. Sounds tough to organize.

Finding enough like-minded people who want to share, but who want to share only housing and meal costs, and who could agree on what counts as those things, would probably be difficult, as would be holding together such an enterprise through subsequent generations.

I've never heard the term "intentional communities," but it sounds apt, particularly the second word. You wouldn't just be filling a house. You would be building a neighborhood. Neat-o. :thumbsup:

"Call it what you want--you're still not shaving your pits." :evilgrin:

[Droopy]

16. Finding like minded people might be tough

I figure if I'm gonna give this a go that I'll put an ad in the paper and put people through an interview process. Maybe go out and have a few beers with them as well. The first thing a community like that needs is for a core group of like mineded people to become friends. The rest just seems like paper work to me.

[GenDem]

17. In Ithaca, not too far from me they call it "Ecovillage"

Here's a link --

http://www.ecovillage.ithaca.ny.us/default.html

[xchrom]

18. there are many more intentional communities today

where you must bring and maintain your own income -- including buying your residence within the community.

this is especially true with communties where farming of some sort is part of the focus.

[Deja Q]

20. I dig the concept; it saves on cost...

though I wouldn't mind having some personal assets. After the 40 hours is up, spending some time on the computer, watching a movie, et al, wouldn't come amiss...