Starting an Intentional Community in Sonoma County?

[bengarland]

(TL;DR -- I want to explore starting an intentional community in Sonoma County. Looking for like-minded individuals that can help me with this or point me towards other people who may already have something in the works. Yes, I know about Green Valley Village, and though I haven't visited yet, I have heard some strange stuff about them from friends and I don't think I'd be a good fit.)

So yes, I know the idea of starting an Intentional Community is nothing new in these parts. However, I feel like many of the ICs I have visited or read about are NOT what I'm looking for. Close, but not it.

Let me make a few points about what I envision:

- An intentional community of at least 8 people and (at least in the beginning) no more than ~30.
- Average age in the community below 45 (not just a bunch of retirees -- sorry!)
- People with 'real' stable jobs and savings to invest in the community (at least $30,000+?)
- People looking for something long-term/permanent (not transient hippies)
- People who are dedicated, committed, and hard-working
- At least 25 acres of land with at least 1 existing usable (large-ish) home, driveway, infrastructure
- Land would ideally have forest and a creek on part of it and be south facing
- Land would have to be no more than a 30 minute drive to Santa Rosa
- Land would be community-owned (perhaps in a trust?)


Basically I just want to start a community of 'normal' educated folks (no conspiracy theorists, crazies, or people with extreme social anxiety!) who share the same goals of sustainable living, rural life, DIY, sharing instead of "me me me", organic gardening, peace and quiet, etc. Would like to create a place where people can have privacy, such as their own homes (be it a cabin, tiny house, yurt, whatever), but would share infrastructure -- maybe a commercial kitchen, workshop, art space, laundry, those sorts of things -- and create community events together (meals, parties, campfires, classes, etc).

The big issue here is that I constantly run into people who all seem to WANT this sort of thing, but very few who can MAKE IT HAPPEN. Seems like nobody (besides me) has any significant amount of money saved up for this sort of thing and buying land and building infrastructure is not cheap (and I am not rich at all, just good at saving...)

I figure if I can find 10 people who each have about $30,000 (or more) saved up then we can easily find 25+ acres of ideal land and get a mortgage that is reasonable (and the more we can afford, the cheaper it will be on a per-acre basis). But without the initial capital, forget it.

Where are people who want the same thing and have the money to make it happen?


Ben

[Shandi]

Ben, I can appreciate your desire for this kind of Intentional Community, and I can imagine that
there are others who actually have the funds,energy, and desire to put into it. Your main job at this
point, is to continue to post this everywhere you can think of, and to be consistent about it.

You can't possibly be the only one who is in this position. Have you connected with the group
that meets quarterly in Glen Ellen? Don't have the details now, but there's been a recent post
for a meeting that's happening today at the Lodge.

Where else have you posted? Remember, there's a buyer for everything, but you need to get
the word out to as many people as possible.

[earthyred]

ben, great idea and i wish you luck. i've wanted something like this for a long time so i'm sure there are others in your age group who will respond. i just wanted to comment about your desire for average age under 45, implying that those of us older than that are retired-many of us are far from it even in our 50's! i wish i could retire and become part of a community like you envision!
susan

[Dixon]

- Average age in the community below 45 (not just a bunch of retirees -- sorry!)
- People looking for something long-term/permanent (not transient hippies)

Ben, most of your criteria look reasonable, but a couple of them confuse me. It 's unclear, for instance, why you specifically object to sharing your community with "a bunch of retirees". I can understand that you want a variety of ages, but you didn't specify "a bunch of 20-somethings" or "a bunch of Gen Xers" as undesirable. Why pick on the oldsters?

Similarly, why specify "transient hippies" as undesirable community members? Isn't transientness the issue here? what difference does it make if the transient person is a "hippie" (whatever that's supposed to mean) or a non-hippie?

[dzerach]

Good luck to you. I wish there were more such efforts outside of the Intentionally Gated Community model. What is the social basis for the stabilization of any healthy community? We know it takes more than money. In nature, sustainability is built on diversity. Might be worth a look-see -- here is an urban sister-modality in the SW part of our country. https://sonoracohousing.com/coho/

[Shandi]

Good luck to you. I wish there were more such efforts outside of the Intentionally Gated Community model. What is the social basis for the stabilization of any healthy community? We know it takes more than money. In nature, sustainability is built on diversity. Might be worth a look-see -- here is an urban sister-modality in the SW part of our country. https://sonoracohousing.com/coho/

This is a wonderful example of what can be achieved in a different way than a "gated community", and I think
the diversity in age provides a balance of wisdom and energy.

Thank you for sharing this.

[caberens]

Without the wisdom of elders your community will not be complete. The native peoples always consulted the elders about important decisions. All perspectives are required for a healthy community. Deena

Ben, most of your criteria look reasonable, but a couple of them confuse me. It 's unclear, for instance, why you specifically object to sharing your community with "a bunch of retirees". I can understand that you want a variety of ages, but you didn't specify "a bunch of 20-somethings" or "a bunch of Gen Xers" as undesirable. Why pick on the oldsters?

Similarly, why specify "transient hippies" as undesirable community members? Isn't transientness the issue here? what difference does it make if the transient person is a "hippie" (whatever that's supposed to mean) or a non-hippie?

[AlchemistGeorge]

(TL;DR -- I want to explore starting an intentional community in Sonoma County. Looking for like-minded individuals that can help me with this or point me towards other people who may already have something in the works.
Ben

Ben, I hope you were able to make it to the Art of Community conference this last weekend - ~ 225 people discussing all aspects of creating and maintaining community, many of the participants from the North Bay. As for resources, first is ic.org - check the communities directory for existing or forming communities in the area you are interested in, and post on their board to look for like minded folk. Next I'd check in with East Bay CoHousing - while you are not in the East Bay, Raines & Betsy Cohen seem to know just about everyone in Northern California who are doing anything with intentional community, and I'd be surprised if there isn't at least one group trying to put together a co-housing community in Sonoma.

Lastly, speaking self promotionally, you might check out my community, the Morehouse community as an information resource. We have been a successful intentional community for 43 years and teach people lots of useful information about having good relationships - ie living together pleasurably in groups ( and remember that the smallest group is two people). Personally I think that its not the buildings or the real estate or the deed or the contract that makes a community, it is fundamentally the on-going relationship among the people who live there. We all know how tricky it can be maintaining a relationship inside of a couple, let alone with eight other people - or even thirty. There might be a couple of things that we've learned that could be of use to you. Also people in our extended circle of friends are often looking to live with others.

[jbrooksmeister]

Ben,

There are quite a few resources for you to start out with. First off, what you're describing sounds a lot like cohousing, so look into advertising for members on cohousing.org. Also read Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities by Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett. This is their third edition of the book, they've been studying and building cohousing and ecovillage communities (as architects and developers) since the early 90s. They're based in Nevada City and their closest project to you that's being built is in Mountain View. Once you find enough interested folks then you should definitely contact them for a feasibility study. There are dozens of projects on their website that you can reference https://www.cohousingco.com/. As far as getting a group together, once you start advertising on the IC and Cohousing websites, and Craigslist, Facebook, organize a Meetup (meetup.com) to see who is willing to start looking for a site and committing to the project. You can be off the ground and running with just 4-6 families.

Best of luck, and feel free to email me jbrooksmeister at gmail.com if you have any other questions.

[michaelsallee5900]

I am actively pursuing the ideals you have set forth. Call me michael 707-494-2955 or email [email protected]