Category Archives: Intentional Communities

Dallas News (online) Cohousing catching on in U.S.

Move revisits commune idea in a more grown-up format

09:44 AM CST on Tuesday, January 30, 2007 By BOB MOOS / The Dallas Morning News bmoos@dallasnews.com

Baby boomers Connie and Rex Fountain belong to the generation that made communes popular in the 1960s. Now, as retirement approaches, they and others their age are considering another kind of collective living.

The fiftysomething Arlington couple have joined about 60 area residents interested in building their own "cohousing" community, where neighbors treat one another like members of an extended family.

"I don't want to grow old in a neighborhood where people hide behind fences and act afraid of each other," Mrs. Fountain said. "I want to live in a community where people sit on their front porches and visit."

Cohousing residents own their homes but share a common building that includes a kitchen, dining area and living room.

Community members enjoy meals together two or three times a week and divide up chores.

"Cohousing combines the privacy of one's own home with the security of belonging to a close-knit community where people look after each other," said Neshama Abraham, a Boulder, Colo., consultant who works with cohousing groups.

Cohousing communities aren't cookie-cutter projects. Each is unique. Prospective residents are intimately involved in the planning, though they may rely on an architect and developer to handle the technical aspects of design and construction. Projects usually consist of 20 to 30 households.

The idea originated in Europe and is taking root in this country. About 5,000 people live in 93 communities, according to the Cohousing Association of the United States. An additional 107 communities are in some stage of planning or development.

An old twist

The latest twist to the nascent trend is cohousing exclusively for people 55 and older. The first two communities opened in Davis, Calif., and Abingdon, Va., in the past year, and a third is under construction in Boulder.

About 25 others are under discussion, including ones in the Dallas area, East Texas and the Texas Hill Country.

Experts say cohousing is suited to baby boomers, who will be looking to remain in control of their lives when they retire. Communities reach decisions by group consensus, not by a top-down hierarchy.

A poll by the MetLife Mature Market Institute and AARP found that 22 percent of respondents 50 to 65 would be interested in building a home to share with friends that included private space and communal living areas.

Members of several Dallas-area Unitarian Universalist churches formed the North Texas cohousing group last year because they want to re-create the strong sense of community they remember from their childhood neighborhoods.

"We're trying to build an old-fashioned neighborhood in a new way," said Janet Martinique, a retired customs broker who volunteered to be the group's facilitator.

The group has met several times since fall to learn about cohousing. Once enough people have made commitments to the project, Ms. Martinique said, they will discuss possible sites and consider developers.

The 60 people who have expressed an interest in the community range in age from 50 to 75. Half are retired. Many are Unitarians, though that's not a requirement to join. Almost all have been community activists.

Help with planning

Mary Leggitt, who's 71 and lives in Red Oak, said she looks forward to spending the rest of her life in a community she'll help plan.

Especially appealing to her are the occasional meals the residents will take turns preparing in the common house's kitchen. "You should know that I make a pretty mean dish of chicken," she pointed out.

Ms. Leggitt said conventional senior communities would have made her feel too much like a patient in an institution. In cohousing, she said, she'll keep her independence and have a say in managing the community.

"I'll also have the comfort of knowing my neighbors are nearby if I need help," she said.

In senior cohousing communities, residents pay for their own home health care when they require it. But their collective living arrangements may enable several to share the cost of a single aide.

Experts say cohousing isn't for everyone. The planning often takes two years or longer. Residents meet regularly to talk about what their community should look like and what everyone's responsibilities should be.

"Give-and-take is the name of the game," Ms. Abraham said. "People who think they always should get their way will find they don't have the right personality for cohousing and will weed themselves out of the group."

As a group moves ahead with hiring an architect, lining up a developer and arranging the financing, members cover those costs. Ms. Abraham said the upfront fees usually amount to 5 percent of a home's cost.

Experts say cohousing isn't necessarily cheaper to buy than conventional homes of comparable size, but the communities' emphasis on energy efficiency and shared living arrangements may produce some long-term savings. "Thirty households might be able to get by with one lawnmower, for example," Ms. Abraham said.

Residents typically pay homeowners' dues to keep up the common areas. Depending on the community, residents do the gardening and maintenance themselves, or they hire outside help.

Cohousing groups can trim months, if not years, off the planning process if they work with developers who understand this kind of housing, but finding such builders can be challenging, according to Charles Durrett, the California architect who's credited with bringing the cohousing concept to America.

Tightrope walk

"Groups walk a tightrope here," he said. "They need to find a developer who will guide them through the process without controlling it."

Cohousing projects don't appeal to many developers because they're small and out of the ordinary, Mr. Durrett said. Still, they appeal to some because they offer builders a group of committed homebuyers and, therefore, less risk.

Jim Sargent, a custom homebuilder in Waxahachie, said he's interested in developing senior cohousing on land he owns in Red Oak. He said he considers most suburban housing a failure and wants to right a wrong.

"Nobody knows his neighbor anymore. That's OK as long as you work. But once you retire, you're alone all day in a big house," he said. "Your friends don't have to be across town; they can be across the courtyard."

Mr. Sargent said he'd like to begin construction by the end of the year and price his homes under $150,000.

At the ElderSpirit community that opened in Abingdon, Va., in early 2006, residents say their years of planning have paid off. Thirty-eight people from 10 states have moved in and begun to live like members of an extended family.

Homes sold for $90,000 to $114,000. Monthly dues run $150.

When someone becomes sick, a committee of residents coordinates the care that neighbors will give. It might be driving someone to a doctor's appointment, bringing over hot meals or just stopping by to visit.

Patricia Gaskin, 69, sold her house in northern Michigan to live in ElderSpirit. Still grieving from her husband's death three months earlier, she found her new neighbors especially understanding and supportive.

Ms. Gaskin now fills her days with gardening, poetry readings, film history c
lasses and potluck dinners.

"I don't feel so alone anymore," she said. "I'm part of something much larger than myself. I can't tell you what a sense of security that gives me."

COMMUNITY FEATURES

Though each cohousing group designs its own community, there are common characteristics.

Each private home is a complete house in and of itself, but it's usually about half the size of a traditional home.

The common house becomes an extension of each home, with guest rooms, laundry facilities and workshops that residents can use when needed.

The private homes are often built around a courtyard, or they're clustered to create broad, open spaces.

Cars are parked on the outskirts of the property to encourage residents to use the walkways and mingle.

...

RESOURCES

Organizations involved in senior cohousing include:

Cohousing Association of the United States: http://www.cohousing.org

Elder Cohousing Network: http://www.eldercohousing.org or 303-413-8066

ElderSpirit Community, Abingdon, Va.: http://www.elderspirit.net/ or 276-628-8908

Silver Sage Village, Boulder, Colo.: http://silversagevillage.com/ or 303-449-3232

Chuck Durrett, architect and author of Senior Cohousing: A Community Approach to Independent Living: http://www.mccamant-durrett.com or 530-265-9980

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Plan B Retirement - Intentional communities

What is an intentional community? For many people, the idea of an intentional community doesn't ring a bell even though it has been in practice for thousands of years. In essence, an intentional community is a group of people coming together in a place they create to live in some particular way. The variety of intentional communities is nearly infinite: some are religious, some are not; politics run the gamut; they are large and small, rural and urban, ecologically minded and materialistic. They include monasteries, communes, anarchic squatter houses, cooperative housing, co-housing, kibbutzim, Christian activist communities, Shaker communities, and many other kinds of groups. Making generalizations about intentional communities is about as accurate as making generalizations about people.

One of the few things that can be said about most intentional communities across the board is that they are built on a stronger sense of community than is common in a conventional setting. People know each other better, work and/or play together, and in most cases share some values, goals, or beliefs. There are real advantages to living in a place of this kind for people who are open to being an integral part of their communities.

For most purposes, groups that don't live together aren't intentional communities in the sense meant here; the term also cannot apply to 'planned developments' and similar places for two reasons: first, the groups of people who come to them do not necessarily come together in any meaningful sense. Second, the environment is created by some external planning group that then sells homes or lots or living units, rather than being created by the residents

The real power of this idea is the thought that the ways people live in the Western world today are not the only ways to live. For Meadowdance, this is attractive because we can build a place where people are supportive rather than dismissive of children; where ecology is a primary focus rather than a weakly implemented afterthought; and where value is placed on people, relationships, and the natural world rather than on money and possessions. Other groups are attracted by being able to share religious or artistic or other values.

The term "community" is often used as shorthand for "intentional community"; however, this is not meant to imply that intentional communities are the only kind of real community there are, only to help get around the fact that "intentional community" is such a mouthful.

Are intentional communities communes? The term "commune" can mean many different things; while some people use it as equivalent to "intentional community", this usage might be confusing in certain circumstances. One fairly precise definition of a commune is a community where all resources are shared equally or based on need. In this sense, communes are intentional communities, but most intentional communities are not communes. Some people associate communes also with anarchy, drug use, irresponsibility, lack of financial stability, a temporary lifespan, and/or a "hippy" lifestyle. These associations don't apply to most intentional communities, so the term commune is often not a helpful one when talking about intentional communities.

-- Luc Reid, 23 April 1999

DISCLAIMER: The term "intentional community" can have different meanings for different people, and this is only one take on its essential import.

Continued here:

What is an Intentional Community? - Meadowdance

What is your vision of living in an intentional community?

We are a diverse and welcoming bunch of communitarians on a common journey to create intentional communities in the Asheville, NC area. Among us are outdoors enthusiasts and hikers, tutors, nurses, young families, retirees, entrepreneurs, builders, and more! Some want intergenerational communities, whilesomepreferelder communities, includinga variety of diet preferences, settings, and lifestyles. We welcome women, men, LGBT membersanyone interested in building intentional community with shared governance.

The purpose of the Intentional Communities Asheville Meetup is to define the various ways we wish to live in community, share information on available resources, explore existing projects and opportunities in our area, meet and learn from those who have experienced creating and living in community, and support groups of people as they begin to form their individual projects.

We will focus on providing ample opportunities to make connections with others seeking community through frequent get-togethers including social events and meetups on various topics related to creating and living in intentional communities.

Whether you are already living in an intentional community, in the process of creating one, or just starting out on your journey and eager to learn more, Asheville Intentional Communities Meetup wants to enable people to find and form their village!

Pleasejoin us! We meet regularly and often!

Visit link:

Intentional Communities Asheville (Asheville, NC) - Meetup

Community lies at the heart of every system from the global level down to that of the family. Self-reliance, cooperative input and cooperative benefit are the essence of community. Intentional communities, at their best, can effectively demonstrate the value of cooperation.

Intentional communities come in a variety of forms. They can be rural communes, ecovillages, co-housing estates or simply a housing co-operative within a block of flats. Their size can range from as small as an extended family up to that of a small town, like Auroville in India or Arcosanti in the US.

The importance of intentional communities needs to be recognised more widely. Our gross levels of over consumption in the developed world are dragging us all rapidly towards a crisis where our extravagant lifestyles will no longer be maintainable. Many intentional communities offer us a realistic alternative. They show us a way which is based upon working together, self-sufficiency, living more simply and in harmony with our natural environment. If we ignore the example that they set, we do so at our own peril.

Read more here:

Intentional Communities - A Fairer World

Program Offerings

Through the Intentional Communities, individuals (community members) come together as a supportive group, sharing a common purpose, and working cooperatively to create a lifestyle reflecting shared values. Community members are able to maintain housing stability, reduce the risk of hospitalization, gain independent living skills, and build social supports by becoming a contributing member of a community.

There are two Touchstone Intentional Communities for a total of 40 members. The communities gather two to three times per week for socializing, planned activities and communal meals. Both communities develop an integrity contract which frames their shared values and becomes the basis for shared decisions. The communities have monthly business meetings and use a consensus model to guide their decision making process. The communities are self-governing which means they develop and decide policies for the community as a whole, work together to maintain viable participation, and manage their budget.

We offer:

Program success is measured on:

We are a multidisciplinary team of professionals providing a combination of services to promote an individuals pursuit of life goals, independence and a healthy and safe environment. Team members may include:

You can find more information about intentional communities at http://www.ic.org.

Download the Intentional Communities fact sheet here.

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Intentional Communities | Touchstone Mental Health

An intentional community is a planned residential community designed from the start to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision and often follow an alternative lifestyle. They typically share responsibilities and resources. Intentional communities include collective households, cohousing communities, ecovillages, monasteries, communes, survivalist retreats, kibbutzim, ashrams, and housing cooperatives. New members of an intentional community are generally selected by the community's existing membership, rather than by real-estate agents or land owners (if the land is not owned collectively by the community).

The purposes of intentional communities vary in different communities. They may include sharing resources, creating family-oriented neighborhoods, and living ecologically sustainable lifestyles, such as in ecovillages.

Some communities are secular; others have a spiritual basis. One common practice, particularly in spiritual communities, is communal meals. Typically, there is a focus on egalitarian values. Other themes are voluntary simplicity, interpersonal growth, and self-sufficiency.

Some communities provide services to disadvantaged populations, for example, war refugees, the homeless, or people with developmental disabilities. Some communities operate learning or health centers. Other communities, such as Castanea of Nashville, Tennessee, offer a safe neighborhood for those exiting rehab programs to live in. Some communities also act as a mixed-income neighborhood, so as to alleviate the damages of one demographic assigned to one area. Many intentional communities attempt to alleviate social injustices that are being practiced within the area of residence. Some intentional communities are also micronations, such as Freetown Christiania.[citation needed]

Many communities have different types or levels of membership. Typically, intentional communities have a selection process which starts with someone interested in the community coming for a visit. Often prospective community members are interviewed by a selection committee of the community or in some cases by everyone in the community. Many communities have a "provisional membership" period. After a visitor has been accepted, a new member is "provisional" until they have stayed for some period (often six months or a year) and then the community re-evaluates their membership. Generally, after the provisional member has been accepted, they become a full member. In many communities, the voting privileges or community benefits for provisional members are less than those for full members.

Christian intentional communities are usually composed of those wanting to emulate the practices of the earliest believers. Using the biblical book of Acts (and, often, the Sermon on the Mount) as a model, members of these communities strive for a practical working out of their individual faith in a corporate context. These Christian intentional communities try to live out the teachings of the New Testament and practice lives of compassion and hospitality.

A survey in the 1995 edition of the Communities Directory, published by Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC), reported that 54 percent of the communities choosing to list themselves were rural, 28 percent were urban, 10 percent had both rural and urban sites, and 8 percent did not specify.[1]

The most common form of governance in intentional communities is democratic (64 percent), with decisions made by some form of consensus decision-making or voting. A hierarchical or authoritarian structure governs 9 percent of communities, 11 percent are a combination of democratic and hierarchical structure, and 16 percent do not specify.[2] Many communities which were initially led by an individual or small group have changed in recent years to a more democratic form of governance.

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Intentional community - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting cooperative culture. Thank you for visiting!

We believe that intentional communities arepioneers in sustainable living, personal and cultural transformation, and peaceful social evolution.Intentional communities includeecovillages,cohousing, residential land trusts, income-sharingcommunes, student co-ops, spiritual communities,and other projects where people live together on the basis of explicit common values.

Since our beginning in 1987, we go about our work in a number of ways, including the Communities Directory,Communities magazine,Community Bookstore, community-focused Events, Classifieds, the Blog, and more.

Our passion is promoting cooperative culture and sustainable living. That means providing the information and inspiration for those seeking community, forming communities, struggling with the challenges of community, and those who want to develop a greater sense of community where they are.

However community touches your life, well try to help you find what youre looking for. In turn, you can help us by becoming anFIC member.

Continued here:

Welcome to FIC - Fellowship for Intentional Community

Program Offerings

Through the Intentional Communities, individuals (community members) come together as a supportive group, sharing a common purpose, and working cooperatively to create a lifestyle reflecting shared values. Community members are able to maintain housing stability, reduce the risk of hospitalization, gain independent living skills, and build social supports by becoming a contributing member of a community.

There are two Touchstone Intentional Communities for a total of 40 members. The communities gather two to three times per week for socializing, planned activities and communal meals. Both communities develop an integrity contract which frames their shared values and becomes the basis for shared decisions. The communities have monthly business meetings and use a consensus model to guide their decision making process. The communities are self-governing which means they develop and decide policies for the community as a whole, work together to maintain viable participation, and manage their budget.

We offer:

Program success is measured on:

We are a multidisciplinary team of professionals providing a combination of services to promote an individuals pursuit of life goals, independence and a healthy and safe environment. Team members may include:

You can find more information about intentional communities at http://www.ic.org.

Download the Intentional Communities fact sheet here.

The rest is here:

Intentional Communities | Touchstone Mental Health

The Intentional Communities Directory is part of the Intentional Communities website, a project of the Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC). Intentional Communities can update their listings online so you get the most up to date information possible. You can add your community now.

If you are looking for an intentional community, ecovillage, cohousing, commune, co-op, or other cooperative living arrangement, browse through our community lists geographic, or by type of community (ecovillages, communes, cohousing, co-ops, or christian), look at our maps, or search our database. You can filter your search on many key characteristics of each community such as location, size, etc.

You can also find communities looking for people, community homes and land for sale, and more, in the Community Classifieds.

To obtain more information about any listed community, contact that community directly using the contact information they have provided. Readers of this site are invited to comment on communities that they have direct experience with. Look towards the bottom of each community listing for a place to add your comment (you must be a registered user) or to see what other readers have to say.

This website is funded completely by donations plus volunteer/far below market rate labor. If you find this site useful we encourage you to donate to our Online Communities Directory Fund.

The FIC also sells a Communities Directory book. The 7th Edition of the Communities Directory is now available for pre-order!It will feature over 1,200 communities, plus include charts comparing communities, maps, articles, and bonus resources to help you visit, join, or create a community.

Help us promote the online Communities Directory by linking to this site. Thank you!

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Communities Directory - Find Intentional Communities

Stephanie Rogers 4 years ago

From tree house villages in Costa Rica to yoga communes in Hawaii, these 10 intentional communities are havens of peace, creativity and sustainability.

Imagine waking up to the sound of bells from a temple to share in a morning yoga ritual overlooking the mountains of Peru, or the glittering Pacific Ocean in Hawaii. Picking fresh vegetables from your neighborhood garden to cook in a community-wide meal in a spacious, shared kitchen. Building your own non-toxic, mortgage-free cob house in a low-impact neighborhood of like-minded nature lovers. Stepping out of your very own treehouse to gaze at a network of aerial walkways that look like something out of a sci-fi movie. These 10 intentional communities, from utopian eco-villages to cute historic houses in urban Los Angeles, bring people together with common goals of harmonic living, artistic exploration and sustainability.

Polestar Yoga Community, Big Island, Hawaii

What could be more relaxing than a yoga community in Hawaii? Polestar offers an energizing lifestyle of daily yoga and meditation, karmic yoga or service projects, and outdoor adventure opportunities. Though it bills itself as a spiritual community, people of all faiths are welcome at this cooperative living retreat which is home to full-time residents and also open to visitors and apprentices. Awakened each morning by the sound of music from the temple, a shrine dedicated to the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, guests enjoy daily routines involving organic food grown on site, volunteer service, art and lots of community involvement.

Eco Truly Park, Peru

It looks like something out of a fairy tale: adorable little cone-shaped buildings topped with colorfully painted spires, dotting the hillside on the Pacific coast of Peru. This ecological and artistic community, an hour north of Lima, was founded on principles of non-violence, simple living and harmony with nature. Both the architecture and the values of the community are inspired by traditional Indian teachings and lifestyles. Eco Truly Park has a goal of being fully self-sustainable, and currently boasts a large organic garden. Open to volunteers, the community offers workshops in yoga, art and Vedic philosophy.

Synchronicity Artist Commune, Los Angeles, California

Embodying the laid-back lifestyle of sunny Southern California, Synchronicity is a relaxed and welcoming intentional living community in the historic West Adams District of Los Angeles. Though its small nowhere near the size of the rest of the communities on this list Synchronicity is a great example of the thousands of similar shared households around the United States. Synchronicity has eleven residents and focuses mostly on artistic actions and holding monthly artistic salons that are open to the public.

Earthhaven Ecovillage, Asheville, North Carolina

Located in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Earthaven is just one of many similar intentional communities focusing on sustainable living. Youll find virtually every type of natural building here, including earthships, cob houses and rustic cabins, with construction methods that eliminate toxic materials, logged timber and mortgages. Set on 320 lush acres 40 minutes southwest of Asheville, Earthaven frequently holds natural building workshops and welcomes the public to learn about permaculture, organic gardening and other sustainable topics. They offer camping and visitor accommodations as well as live-work arrangements.

Milagro Cohousing, Tucson, Arizona

Twelve minutes from downtown Tucson, Arizona, Milagro is a co-housing community with 28 passive-solar, energy-efficient adobe homes on 43 acres. Set against the Tucson mountains, Milagro is simply a community of people who want to live a green lifestyle, surrounded by like-minded neighbors. Each resident has access to 35 acres of undeveloped open space, as well as the 3,600-square-foot Common House, which has meeting and dining space, a library, a playroom and storage space. Gardens, workshops and a solar-heated swimming pool make it even more enticing.

Finca Bellavista Treehouse Community, Costa Rica

If youve ever watched Star Wars and wished that you could live with the Ewoks in their magical tree house community, take heed: such a thing actually exists. And its in Costa Rica. Finca Bellavista is a network of rustic, hand-built tree houses in the mountainous South Pacific coastal region of this Central American nation, surrounded by a jungle that is brimming with life. The off-grid, carbon-neutral tree houses are connected by aerial walkways and include a central community center with a dining area, barbecue and lounge. Gardens, ziplines and hiking trails make it even more of a tropical paradise. Prospective community members can design and build their own tree houses. Additionally, some of the tree house owners rent out their homes, and there are visitor accommodations available.

Tamera Peace Research Village, Portugal

Aiming to be a totally self-sufficient community, the Tamera Peace Research Village is in the Alentejo region of southwestern Portugal and is home to 250 coworkers and students who study how humans can live peacefully in sustainable communities, in harmony with nature. It includes a non-profit peace foundation, a SolarVillage test site, a permaculture project with an edible landscape, and a sanctuary for horses.

Dancing Rabbit Eco Village, Missouri

Another showcase of the beauty of natural building techniques, the Dancing Rabbit Eco Village is a sustainable community located near Rutledge, Missouri advocating low-impact living and dedication to social change. Everything from members diets to the way they use water is dictated by a commitment to living lightly on the earth. The village is on 280 acres including six ponds, a small creek and 40 acres of woodland, plus 30 acres where they have planted over 12,000 trees as part of a restoration program.

EcoVillage at Ithaca, New York

What would the ideal sustainable community look like? The EcoVillage at Ithaca is one example that is already thriving in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. It includes three co-housing neighborhoods called Frog, Song and Tree as well as an organic CSA vegetable farm, community gardens and over 100 acres of protected green space. The houses are all energy-efficient and share facilities like a common house, wood shop, metal shop, bike shed, playgrounds and centralized compost bins.

Conceptual Community of Tiny Houses

Its not yet a reality, but tiny house enthusiasts have a dream: idyllic neighborhoods where people who have committed to living in very small spaces can get together and share resources and camaraderie. Tiny house communities are hard to come by because of various city and county ordinances, which favor large houses and conventional utilities. At TinyHouseCommunity.com, people who live in tiny houses or want to build their own some day get together to talk about making these villages happen. There are two tiny house communities currently in planning phases, in Washington D.C. and Texas.

Top photo: Dancing Rabbit Eco Village

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10 Utopian Intentional Communities with Distinct Values