I’m new. Very interested in joining a community but have no idea where to start. I have a great work ethic and a can do attitude that I can bring to the table. I’m looking for some direction. Any guidance on getting started on the journey would be greatly appreciated.
So I’m going to answer this question in the manner of its title, as those are important questions to ask yourself.
Who: Who are the people you feel good with? Who is in a community that you would enjoy living in? Some communities are multi-generational, some communities when they’re new have lots of 20-somethings and 30-somethings in them. Some communities are for elders only. Some communities are population-specific, such as communities for vegans, or people who share a religeous/belief system, or an lgbtq+ community , Etc.
What: What type of community do you want? Do you want a community in which people each own their own house but share common areas? Do you want a community that focusses on permiculture, sustainability, gardening, raising goats, art, music, specific childrearing modalities, teaching, doing community businesses together etc.? And regarding income, do you want a community where income is partially shared? Fully shared? Only a monthly dues fee + some community work?
Where: Where are you willing to live geographically? Do you need to stay near where you are now? Do you want to get a new start in a new city? Do you want your own house in the community? Do you want a tinyhouse? Do you want flats or townhouses or duplexes to live in? Do you want a commonhouse? What other types of community amenities do you hope for? Do you want to live in a land-based community? Do you want a more urban community in the middle of the big city? Do you want something inbetween?
You can check the communities directory on the FIC website, they have a variety of different types of communities. You can also look at cohousing dot org’s directory or Global Ecovillage Network’s directory.
Also ask yourself if you are someone who could do cofounding or if you’re someone who needs to join an established community. Founding is super hard but can be rewarding and involves connecting closely with other cofounders and creating something new, from getting land to building infastructure to creating by-laws etc. Joining is easier as many of those things are already in place, but joining means you won’t get to decide all the preliminary things, however most communities engage in collective decision-making of some kind, so your voice will still be heard.
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Hello. Thank you for the detailed suggestions. I am curious. Under “Who”, you mention some communities are for elders only. Is there a way to search for such communities? I have not seen a field or tag that would indicate that in the IC.org “Find Community” search parameters. Any suggestions? Thanks.
I can’t speak for other parts of the country much, but in Portland there is an elders-only community called PDX Commons. I know that there is one called Silver Sage which I think is in CO. So I know they exist, in season 2 of the Inside Community podcast which is hosted on the FIC website, there is an episode specifically about elders in community which may have some helpful info for you.
So I’ll write up my current who/what/where/when as it stands now.
Who: While we had a group that was cohesively considering community together things didn’t come together at that time, one family did recently finally obtain land to connect with, but its too far away for most of us, so we’re not joining them out there, an hour northwest of Portland OR, outside the metro area, and most of us from the group were interested in staying metro. The rest of us didn’t have the capital to buy, part of why my husband and I backed out, a big credit issue set us wayyyyy back, and my husband and I aren’t sure whether that usual cobuy land structure would work for us, we need to either rent on someone else’s land or perhaps, in the distant future buy land ourselves and then come up with a structure that is more central-leader based. But we’re talking way in the future on that one, see the part where we can’t afford land.
We’d like to connect with fellow faire people, that is where we thrive and where we’re happiest, artists, not too strict politically in any direction, etc.
What: We haven’t quite found a right community to join via renting yet, maybe it will happen at some point though. But if that doesn’t happen, and if we’re ever able to afford to connect with land, we want something we can buy and then rent out space, and maybe some trading too, where lots of creatives can live together and have fun and enjoy connection with each other and the earth. We can’t be too far out because I need public transit, as someone with multiple disabilities, but we don’t want to be in Portland proper either, we want to be in the metro area though here, in OR. We love the idea of starting with our own plot of land and then whenever plots next to it come up for sale, friends who want to have community together buy those plots and so its like intentional neighbours, there will be a combination of people who “own” land and people who “rent”, at that point. Maybe each person who “owns” can decide on one thing on their property for the community to use, a hot tub here, a gazebo there, hopefully a commonhouse at some point, etc. I’m wary of cobuying land with other humans, trust factors, so ideas of these kinds interest me. So whether its a central leader community or whether its a consensus community, where there are multiple people who own multiple plots of land, we’ll see. I do know that my husband and I need some space of our own, so most likely there will be multiple little houses on the property, so people have some privacy, I know he and I certainly need it.
My 5 core values for community are: Personal liberty. Collaborative cooperation. Personal responsability. Respect and kindness. Connection to the earth.
When: Not today. I mean if someone got something started near us that was similar we could look at renting there within the next year, but unless that happens it will be a long time and I’m not setting any timeline goals since we’re poor.
Where: Portland OR metro area, but not Portland itself and not even Multnomah County where Portland is, needs to be either Clackamas County or Washington County for us. We moved into Clackamas County a year and a half ago and we love it out here, both of the counties we’d want to live in are “purple” counties, not too far right, not too far left politically.
Why: Good question. I’m still trying to figure that out. Initially it was fear of another lockdown, and if we have a community no one can force us not to do things and see each other because we’re all living together anyway. I’m not as afraid of that now because I don’t think the government will try that again anytime soon. So that reason has slid by the wayside for me. I think I just love how close we all are at our Renaissance/fantasy faires and I just want that feeling all year long, where we can help each other, celebrate together, create together, grow things together, learn how to be in better stewardship and connection with Creation, etc. Maybe we can have events on the property that are open to the public to earn money to make the community function, etc.