What is community?
We seem to have lost a sense of community in this day and age. "Community" used to be a given; people who lived in close proximity to each other in villages, suburbs and even cities felt a sense of interconnectedness and were very much involved in each other's lives. Nowadays, for the most part the "communities" we belong to are not comprised of the people whom we live close to (much less our own families), but rather geographically distant people from our workplaces, schools, religious groups or even the internet.
Because we no longer have built-in communities, we must intentionally create them. These "intentional communities" take many forms but all are comprised of people who wish to live more cooperatively and with more connection than in the typical suburb or city.
For a wealth of information about intentional community, the different types and for a database of communities, see www.ic.org.
What type of community will we be?
It is given that in our intentional community members will have independent finances, personal freedom and privacy. However, we have an important decision to make about community structure and land ownership.
Basically we have two choices:
-Cohousing. Members own individuals lots and houses plus a share in the commons. (For more information about cohousing, see www.cohousing.org.)
-Collective. The community's legal entity owns the land and members own a percentage of the legal entity. Members lease homesites from the community but do own their houses and everything else above the ground.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both structures and the cofounders will decide which form to take.
Ecovillage
Many communities are also ecovillages, which in particular value environmental sustainability and often utilize off-grid utilities, green construction, local resources, homegrown food and other "green" choices.
A large part of SDF's mission is ecological sustainability and we will strive to fulfill this goal. See the Ecovillage page for more details.
Community Goals
What DO we want in terms of community?
In a nutshell: We hope to develop a healthy, multi-generational community where we foster mutually helpful and nurturing relationships, share a few meals a week, enjoy both formal and informal activities and gatherings, celebrate with each other, and support each other's emotional and spiritual growth.
How do we envision the common house, the green and other common areas being being used? Perhaps members will gather to socialize, meditate, do yoga, have dances, make music, play volleyball, practice crocheting, drum, perform, hold workshops, have parties, celebrate rituals, hold religious services, invite a speaker, host children's and teens' activities, organize a work party, have a book exchange, start a "free pile," work, hang out, read in front of a roaring fire...
Communities usually have labor requirements. We will probably have a requirement of a few hours per month or a certain number per year to improve the infrastructure of the community and keep the community running.
What legal structure will we use? It will likely be a non-exempt nonprofit corporation or LCC, but we must research our options. Writing the by-laws will be crucial. We must decide how often we will have community meetings and what decision-making process we will use, such as voting or consensus (if we decide to use consensus we should get trained in it ).
How will our community be laid out? How much will join fees, site leases and dues be? How quickly can we pay back loans (for land, for developing infrastructure...)? Do any members want to form a residential co-op and start a tax-exempt income-sharing 501(d) business in order to provide jobs for their residents and non-taxable income for the co-op to operate and build infrastructure?
One of our goals is to have several member-owned cottage industries and businesses based out of the community. This would accomplish a few things: 1) Allow people to make a living in our semi-rural setting; 2) Create local resources for members to get many of their needs met right within the community; 3) Improve the infrastructure of the community and the land (i.e. agricultural and construction/development businesses). These businesses can also provide services for and sell goods to the larger community as well if they so choose. Examples include a sawmill, land development, green construction, a bakery, apiculture (bees), agriculture, artisan foods, handcrafted artisan goods, carpentry, herbal sundries, a general store, an inn, a children's educational program, workshops and retreats, a non-profit, personal services(web design and IT, massage, consulting, etc.), a dairy, and so much more. We know there will be at least one farm growing vegetables and raising livestock.
In addition, members can form co-ops to get more of their needs met: eating co-ops, utility co-ops, childcare co-ops and so forth.
It's all up to us!
Next: Ecovillage