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Soyager · December 2009

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Soyager · December 2009

I could potentially live in one of these places IF I worked from home or didn't work with a shiiiitload of people all day long. I like my independence too much to come home and have to listen to some "neighbor" ramble at the dinner table. I might strangle him/her with a sustainably-produced woolen cord.

triumphantreturnofplanningbug · December 2009

I love the idea. DH would thrive somewhere like that.

But I am a hermit. If I'm going to function, I need at least one day a week where I can go about my life without having to interact with anyone (DH included) to refresh and refill myself, and it seems like that wouldn't happen in those sorts of communities, just by virtue of the shared living space.

I think I may be confused, though. Right now we live in an 1100 sq ft 2 bedroom apartment, and that includes a wee little kitchen and small/medium sized living room. So are there both common areas and individual living spaces within each house? Or are the only common areas the totally common ones.

nkintzel · December 2009

I love the idea of co-housing communities. I actually work at something similar, though there is a much larger degree of independence. The community is still tight, but a bit more "organic" if you will.

https://www.tryonfarm.com/

andrealynn0707 · December 2009

Soyager:
I could potentially live in one of these places IF I worked from home or didn't work with a shiiiitload of people all day long. I like my independence too much to come home and have to listen to some "neighbor" ramble at the dinner table. I might strangle him/her with a sustainably-produced woolen cord.

Yeah, me too.

papagena · December 2009

I have a friend, who I really admire, who did this with her DH and her daughter when she was younger. I said maybe, because it requires a lot more thought than I'm willing to put into right now for a yes or no answer. I'd have to really jive with the people there before I committed. She really liked it, but they did give up careers and incomes that probably exceeded what they made afterward. I can't say that that wouldn't be a factor (although I have less than a stellar salary bracket, so it might be a mute point). I'd really have to be reassured that the ideals are very in line with my own. Any religious or cult-like overtones... no way. I will not wear Nikes.

I do wish we had more of a community/villiage raises the child type of atmosphere, but I don't know if I could really immerse myself with that closed a community in order to get it.

nkintzel · December 2009

triumphantreturnofplanningbug:

I love the idea. DH would thrive somewhere like that.

But I am a hermit. If I'm going to function, I need at least one day a week where I can go about my life without having to interact with anyone (DH included) to refresh and refill myself, and it seems like that wouldn't happen in those sorts of communities, just by virtue of the shared living space.

I think I may be confused, though. Right now we live in an 1100 sq ft 2 bedroom apartment, and that includes a wee little kitchen and small/medium sized living room. So are there both common areas and individual living spaces within each house? Or are the only common areas the totally common ones.

I think that every co-housing community operates a little differently. Some of them are just houses that are built really close together and share gardens/green space, some of them have a common eating facility that is a separate building, etc. If you google intentional communities or co-housing, you'd probably get a ton of them that all do it a little differently.

In our little community, houses are clustered together, but single-family. They share a community garden, communal open spaces, but no actual living space.

clayswife · December 2009

I really like the idea- the company I work for actually purchases farmland in order to help establish community farms which is somewhat similar I guess although a much smaller scale (3 or 4 families farming). I can buy into the community farm, but I don't think I could handle living in such close quarters with so many families (30 ish). I'm a very private person and I think that would drive me nuts to have so many people so close.

Soyager · December 2009

papagena:
I'd have to really jive with the people there before I committed.

This exactly.

Some of the communities seem like they're mainly baby boomer hippy types--to the point where one community offers a discount on your home purchase if you have kids under 18. I guess they need to diversify. I also agree with the part about not wearing Nikes.

Bug--I also enjoy the alone time. DH is an only child and I'm the oldest, so we have a mutual understanding of needing our "own" space/time. Ask me about that again when the baby comes, though!

smurfetteinred · December 2009

papagena:
I have a friend, who I really admire, who did this with her DH and her daughter when she was younger. I said maybe, because it requires a lot more thought than I'm willing to put into right now for a yes or no answer. I'd have to really jive with the people there before I committed. She really liked it, but they did give up careers and incomes that probably exceeded what they made afterward. I can't say that that wouldn't be a factor (although I have less than a stellar salary bracket, so it might be a mute point). I'd really have to be reassured that the ideals are very in line with my own. Any religious or cult-like overtones... no way. I will not wear Nikes.
I do wish we had more of a community/villiage raises the child type of atmosphere, but I don't know if I could really immerse myself with that closed a community in order to get it.

^^This to a T (especially the Nike part Wink ) I've seen some of these eco villages before where it's definitely an organized community effort but with less of the shared living spaces aspect. I think I could go more for that. I love the idea of shared farming and the closeness of neighbors/ it takes a village etc (we speak to exactly one of our neighbors - it's sad) but I definitely need my own space to retreat to as well.

andrealynn0707 · December 2009

nkintzel:
I think that every co-housing community operates a little differently. Some of them are just houses that are built really close together and share gardens/green space, some of them have a common eating facility that is a separate building, etc. If you google intentional communities or co-housing, you'd probably get a ton of them that all do it a little differently.

In our little community, houses are clustered together, but single-family. They share a community garden, communal open spaces, but no actual living space.

I could get down with this.

reeni · December 2009

andrealynn0707:
nkintzel:
I think that every co-housing community operates a little differently. Some of them are just houses that are built really close together and share gardens/green space, some of them have a common eating facility that is a separate building, etc. If you google intentional communities or co-housing, you'd probably get a ton of them that all do it a little differently.

In our little community, houses are clustered together, but single-family. They share a community garden, communal open spaces, but no actual living space.
I could get down with this.

me too. actually this sounds ideal for raising a family, but the others with shared cooking/dining space, etc would pose a problem I think because my kids have allergy issues. Plus sometimes I'd want to cook food that is not exactly "popular" or crowd-pleasing. But it would be great to have an instant network of other kids/parents... right now we live in a co-op building that is full of seniors; there is only one other family with young children.

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