From gkm@magilla.cichlid.com Wed Jun 15 22:22:16 1994 Date: Wed, 15 Jun 94 11:18 EDT From: Greg McGary To: london@sunsite.unc.edu Subject: Re: Q: Organic gardening books? > OK. Please send me what you have. I maintain small ftp archives on > co-housing, sustainable communities, alternative architecture, > alt.housing.nontrad newsgroup, etc. and would like to add your > information to this. Here is a good introductory article written by a friend & neighbor. This is all I have at the moment. Have you run across the _Directory of Intentional Communities_ in your travels? If not, you really ought to check it out. You can order it from Communities Magazine for $18 postpaid. Mail your order to Communities * Route 4, Box 169-M * Louisa, VA 23093. You can either get the 1992 edition right away, or you can get the vaporware 1994 edition which will be available "real soon now" (don't be surprised if it becomes the 1995 edition, if you get my drift). I think the 1992 edition is *great* and still very useful and timely, so I'd go with the tried & true, if I were you. Also, elph@umich.edu is working on setting up a WWW node containing the entire contents of at least the articles section of the 1992 Directory. The main thing that's holding us up is getting etexts. There's a chance that the person who did the final layout for the book has copies. If not, we'll have to scan/OCR them. -- Greg McGary (804) 361-1665 gkm@cichlid.com (ask me for information about intentional communities) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Reprinted with permission from the _Directory of Intentional Communities_ (1992 Edition); c/o Sandhill Farm; Route 1, Box 155, Rutledge, MO 63563 Communities for the Mainstream by Julie Mazo The "maturing" of intentional communities has received considerable media attention in recent years. Articles on cooperative lifestyles have appeared in the Boston Globe. Denver Post, Los Angeles Times, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch, among other major publications. Even the Wall Street Journal found it relevant to report on the evolution of the people and places once called hippies and communes, as gray hair grows more plentiful among the Woodstock generation. This article tells a related story, the story of a search for community for the middle class. Six intentional communities are described, as I experienced them in 1989. Each is very different from the others. What they have in common is the offering of a viable opportunity for a lifestyle of one's choice, from a home with as many or few "middle-class" accouterments as one may desire to a primitive cabin in the woods. In each of these communities, members can contentedly enjoy whatever they wish that mainstream America has to offer while snuggled in the comforting embrace of communitarian values. My husband and I were not passionate back-to-the-land advocates, nor were we anti-urban in principle. We had been living the comfortable, relatively conventional existence of middle-class professionals, and were not looking to trade that for an ideal of spartan self-sufficiency. We wanted, however, the sense of "belonging" to something larger than our nuclear family, more consciously interdependent than our circle of friends. And we wanted to express and experience the generic community values described so well elsewhere in this publication. But how to find "our" community? We used five criteria to help us sift through the masses of available information and identify those places that felt like a "good fit." The criteria were: 1. absence of dogma or leader or required belief system 2. private dwellings designed to the member's taste and means 3. self-responsibility for livelihood 4. proximity to a college town for professional opportunities and for cultural stimulation 5. relatively mild winters People were intrigued and puzzled by our search. Few of our friends had even heard of "intentional community." Their only frames of reference were the commune scene of the '60s or Jonestown--and they had trouble fitting us into either frame. The more we talked about the large, varied world of the communities movement, the more interested they became, and the more they wanted to know. That's why this article is being written: to inform people like our friends about the existence of an option for the middle class, an alternative to city dwellings where one is cautious about walking at night, or suburban enclaves where common interests are rarely examined beyond the sports page or the travails of the daily commute; a living environment where doors don't need to be locked, where significant relationships with neighbors are the norm rather than the exception, where generations mix and everyone has a role, where people experiment with commitment to something more than their individual interests; in short, intentional community. MONAN'S RILL And so we set out on our odyssey, in February 1989. Monan's Rill, one half-hour from Santa Rosa, California, was the first stop. The narrow dirt road twisting up the ridge prepared us for a rural experience, but not for the dramatic contrast between the exceedingly rugged landscape and the comfortable, modern, even luxurious homes tucked at different levels into the high land dividing the Sonoma and Napa Valleys. Founded in 1974, Monan's Rill has 17 adult members, single and coupled, ranging in age from 30s to 70s, and five children. The wooden sign at the entrance gently suggests a 10 1/2-mile speed limit and adds, "We thank thee"--one indication of the Quaker influence on this non-sectarian group. Some of Monan's Rill's members work in Santa Rosa full or part time (as nurse, teacher, therapist, etc.). Retired members divide their days between various "good works" in town and necessary chores on the land. To become a member an interested person may apply for year-long visitor status after frequent enough contacts to be reasonably sure of one's desire. More intensive contact during the visitorship enables both the prospective member and the community to make a good long-term decision. It is not a decision to be taken casually, since membership requires a substantial financial commitment based on a formula that includes a non-refundable portion, a lump sum (adjusted by age), and purchase of equity in the total value of the 440-acre property. Title to the land and houses is held by a general partnership of all members. There are bi-monthly potlucks and community meetings, and work days when members volunteer for tasks decided upon by the Land Plans Committee. We were there for a work day that included chopping furewood for all the households, gardening, road maintenance, and scouring the inside of the water tower. There is an expectation of participation by everyone in community work, but exceptions for good cause seem to be made casually enough. Leadership of the meetings rotates annually, and decisions are made by consensus following the Quaker model. The Process Committee, whose mandate includes keeping a finger on the social/emotional pulse of the community, brings to the surface issues that may lie beneath the calm, caring surface of personal interactions. After the first death of a member, the Process Committee created an occasion for people to share feelings about their loss, and to explore the implications of growing old in the community. Monan's Rill is a group of gentle people who care about one another, who live in relative independence and have the security of knowing they belong to a caring, supportive extended family. Friendships grow strong, and acceptance of a range of lifestyles is the norm. SANTA ROSA CREEK COMMONS Our next visit represented the other end of the rural-urban spectrum. Santa Rosa Creek Commons is smack in the middle of downtown Santa Rosa, within walking distance of every urban convenience. A limited-equity co-operative founded in the early 1980s, it looks much like a small, two-story garden apartment development set between an original house facing the city street and what is affectionately called "the back 40," a large grassy slope down to the creek with a garden, a circle of tree stumps cut at comfortable sitting height, with plenty of room for children to play and for adults to enjoy the natural surroundings. The front house has been divided between a private apartment belonging to one member and community space: a kitchen for community meals, a large room for community meetings and other events, and visitor accommodations. This community space was our first stop, since we had scheduled our arrival in time for the Saturday afternoon monthly meeting. These first few hours provided generous evidence of responsible, careful work on the part of committees, consensus decisions, good humor, sharing and caring for individuals and for the community as a whole. We were particularly delighted by the "Other Friends" project, whereby an adult who wishes to be an "other friend" to any community child posts a notice on the bulletin board in the clean, well-ordered laundry room to announce that "Jane will teach baking to up to three children at a time. Most convenient schedule would be Wednesdays between 4 and 6 p.m.," or "John will take one child for walks around Santa Rosa on Saturdays and tell stories of the town's history," or "Mary will give computer lessons..." What a wonderful structure for the grownups to share themselves and their interests, and for the children to expand their adult relationships. SRCC consists of 27 apartments in a series of low-rise buildings. Seventeen of the units have been bought by members at full cost; the others are subsidized, and available for rental. The membership includes minorities of all sorts: blind, black, hearing-impaired, Hispanic. The community building has a wheelchair lift, and ramps ensure accessibility elsewhere. The cooperative seeks renters who understand and are interested in cooperation, rather than those who are simply looking for subsidized rent, and the membership process exposes potential residents to the full experience of SRCC. The community takes its grievance procedure very seriously. Any member having a problem with a neighbor is encouraged first to speak with the neighbor directly. A three-person mediation team, consisting of a facilitator, a referee, and an active listener, can be called together to meet with the disputants. The belief that all members can develop mediation skills is borne out by the expectation that, after participating in the process as a disputant, a member can then become part of the mediation team, and learn to help others by sitting in with more experienced member-mediators. SRCC is a successful model of urban community living, with commitment to intelligent, participatory management, sharing in community work, and cooperation in many other areas of members' lives. It turns upside down the stereotypical view that city apartment complexes are necessarily places where a smile and a nod to some of the other residents is the ultimate in neighborliness. CO-HOUSING Before we left California, we visited people involved in the burgeoning co-housing movement in San Luis Obispo, Berkeley, San Rafael, Oakland, Palo Alto, and Sacramento. This very exciting concept of intentional neighborhoods with clustered housing and common facilities, designed to enhance social contact, planned and managed by residents, is very worth watching-and supporting. Representing a broad spectrum of ages and income levels, considering both rural and urban sites, the co-housing groups were all highly motivated and dedicated to the challenge of creating their own community. The temptation to stay and work with these wonderful groups of people was strong, but we resisted--and headed east. CELO LAND TRUST We drove as quickly as we could across the country, passing by some very interesting communities along the way for no reason other than their typically harsh winters. By the time we reached Celo Land Trust, near Asheville, North Carolina, we were eager for our next community experience. Due to a mix-up with our correspondence, no one was expecting us. We found our way to the home of 87-year old Ernest Morgan, son of Arthur Morgan, Celo's founder and long-time inspiration for the communities movement worldwide. Ernest had just come in from cutting firewood and was deeply involved in his next project for the aftemoon, filling orders of a self-produced videotape for the far-flung network of the Rural Southern Voice for Peace (RSVP) . After a few moments of sorting out who we were and what we wanted, we found ourselves on the receiving end of a full measure of his personal charm. He conveyed the history and spirit of Celo, starting with his parents' purchase of Berkshire Mountain land in 1916 to site their dream of community, and the shift to North Carolina in the 1930s. Celo members were described as "a bunch of fierce individualists," ex-urbanites generally, most of whom have chosen to locate their leaseholdings on the 1200-acre land trust in an isolated spot "at the far end of a dirt road," rather than in clusters. The thirty-some households are economically independent except for the few adults on the payroll of community enterprises such as the Health Center which serves the surrounding area, the Arthur Morgan School, a private residential school for adolescents, or the summer camp for children. Many members are craftspeople, possessive of the privacy and time it takes to produce the fine works they market cooperatively. Others commute to work in Asheville, an hour away, or to nearby small towns. We also learned about many other cooperative activities, such as the RSVP, an active food co-op, a Friends Meeting, work days devoted to community upkeep or to helping neighbors, and community meetings. I interjected with "I'm getting a schizoid picture of Celo: on the one hand, fierce individualists; on the other, a lot of jointly developed, highly participatory activities..." Ernest chuckled in response. "That's Celo!" Cabin Fever University, another cooperative Celo project, is a sharing of skills and interests open to all area residents with no distinction between Celo members and others. No money changes hands except when costs are incurred for art supplies, food or the like. Seven photocopied pages listed a rich, stimulating collection of activities: ongoing groups and one-time events during the winter "cabin fever" season. The current offerings included a pizza party at the Health Center, yoga lessons, Games Night for Adults, a colloquy for writers, art lessons, a meeting to organize book-sharing, a support group for mothers of young children, a glass-blowing demonstration at one home/studio, and dozens of others. The "sane fringe" (Ernest Morgan's phrase) refers to the 100 or more people who live nearby but not on the Celo Land Trust property. Tucked into the river valley, scattered along the flatland, hidden deep in the woods, and perched on the hills that lap against the Appalachian Mountains is an extraordinary, vigorous collection of human talent and energy. Some of the "sane fringe" came because they were attracted to the Celo community, some to the Arthur Morgan School, some to the thriving crafts network (the nearby Penland School of Crafts has a national reputation). Some were attracted by the general acceptance in the area of alternative styles of life; and all are drawn to the beauty of the mountains. The line between the land trust community members and the surrounding folk is blurred. The food co-op, for example, is on land trust property, sharing space with the craft co-op. Over 90 households belong to the food co-op; Celo members account for approximately a third of that number. Celo operates according to 50-plus years of strongly cooperative tradition based on slow change, gradually achieved consensus. Respect for the land is a paramount value, as are helping one's neighbors and living a balanced life of work, play, and creativity. SHALOM COMMUNITY Shalom Community is situated just at the edge of Greensboro, North Carolina. Each of the eight adult members has an urban career (college professor, social worker, administrator, etc.), and retreats after working hours to the 46-acre rural paradise they own as a housing cooperative. Members are in their 30s, 40s and 50s, and there are two preschoolers and a teenager. Member housing runs the gamut from the tiny original farmhouse to the newly completed, large, luxurious, ultra-modern dwelling overlooking the community 's lake. Another building is an attractive, comfortable duplex which includes self-contained private space for two households as well as a community library/lounge and meeting/dining space used by all. Shalom has a pattern of members moving from one house to another, or moving in with another family for a while, as life circumstances change. Questions about who is to live where seem to have been easily resolvable. Shalom has stayed small since its founding in 1974, and hasn't had the need for elaborate structure. A new member purchases shares in the co-op, and bears the cost of housing her/himself in a house that the co-op owns. Community issues are considered as they arise, and decisions are made by consensus. Without much attention to formal structure and without members feeling bound by precedent, the land gets tended, new buildings are designed and built cooperatively, specific projects get the time they require as needs surface. Members have a commitment to attend weekly non-business meetings. This is a time to discuss feelings about current issues in their lives directly bearing either on community relationships or on outside experiences. The point of these honest, often moving exchanges (we were privileged to be invited to one) is to uncover childhood patterns that continue to influence present behavior, and therefore to have the opportunity to let go of old pattems that are no longer constructive. There is neither leader nor agenda for these meetings, simply a group of people experimenting with this means of increasing the harmony of their lives. We were told of periods in Shalom's history when members had only minimum interaction with one another, and other periods when the group operated as a big family. Our time there included both spontaneous and scheduled socializing (the latter extending to non-member friends), cheerful cooperation on community tasks and assistance to individuals, and very real concern for one another. NEW LAND We headed north into Virginia. Our destination: the New Land. Sprawling across 800 acres of magnificent, hilly terrain about 30 miles south of Charlottesville, the New Land is structured as a subdivision rather than an intentional community. The land was bought in 1979 by Bob Monroe, author of Journeys Out of the Body, as setting for an educational and research institute dealing with investigation and expansion of human consciousness. A substantial part of the property was subsequently divided into lots of three to 10 or more acres which are for sale to any buyer. This makes of the New Land an open community, intentional in appeal, but without a membership process. However, virtually all of the 25 or so households have been drawn there by the work of The Monroe Institute. Most of the striking, modem, custom-designed homes are sited in splendid isolation, which reflects the independence of New Landers. There is no common responsibility except for the roads, and therefore few issues that affect all the residents. While the New Land does not fit most definitions of intentional community, there is a very tangible "community of interest" that bonds many of its residents. Some gather regularly in study groups on various topics; others come together to sing, publish a quarterly newsletter, engage in political, social, and personal growth activities, and just to enjoy the proximity of Endred spirits. A few New Landers work at the Institute; one family operates a llama farm on the property; some are retired; others commute to nearby towns or pursue their business interests around the country and around the globe. New Landers are vital people across a wide age range, intellectually curious and active, who know they can look to their neighbors for stimulation and nourishment and support. To become a New Lander, one needs just the price of a lot and the resources to build a house on it. SHANNON FARM Shannon Farm, founded in 1974, is 10 minutes away from the New Land, tucked cozily into the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. About two-thirds of Shannon's 490 acres are wooded; the rest holds gardens, pastures, hayfields, orchards, ball fields, a lake, and one of the seven residential clusters (the other six are in wooded areas). The houses give visual testimony to the wide spectrum of values, lifestyle choices, and financial resources that comprise this highly eclectic community. There are simple cabins, a geodesic dome, more conventional homes, elegant, custom-detailed structures, and a solar-powered group house with ample capacity for eight adults to enjoy their private space and shared living areas equipped with a full range of TV's, computers, sound systems, VCR's, and a well-equipped caterer's kitchen. The 60 members range in age from 19 up to the 70s, and include nuclear families, single parent households, and individuals who choose to live alone, in couples or with one of the intentional groups. Parents are responsible for their own children (infants to teens), but there is much cooperation in child-rearing. A few of the 21 children have been home schooled, but most of the school-aged children go to nearby public or alternative schools, and parents, grandma, or daycare providers look after the younger ones. The membership process includes a minimum six-month provisional period; full membership requires approval of two-thirds of the community. There is no "buy-in," but members pay 7 percent of their income as monthly dues. All are responsible for their own livelihood, and for the cost of their own housing, which is owned communally and leased long-term by the householder. The bulletin board in community space announces weekend work days when needed, anything from filling potholes to cleaning the sweat lodge, or a roofing party for a member's house. On weekdays members scater to pursue their individual livelihoods in nearby towns, some of them to jobs in the two collectives (woodworking and computas), or work on the land. Shannon Farm makes decisions by consensus at monthly meetings, after intensive committee work shapes a proposal for consideration by the total group. The cornmunity is proud of its decision-making system, which has grown through the years into an effective and potent vehicle to harness energy in pursuit of the common good. Widespread acceptance of difference, high tolerance for individual idiosyncracies, and profound respect forpersonal freedom are hallmarks of Shannon Farm, as eitha cause or effect of its processes. These brief sketches are incomplete. I have not described the challenges and frustrations or the disappointments and the compromises that also come with living in community--as they come, in different guises, with living anywhere. Living in community is not for everyone; but knowing about the options is important for making an informed decision. So here are six options-and there are many more --where elements from more conventional and familiar environments exist side by side in a comfortable marriage with the rich subculture of the intentional communities movement. Personal Note At this writing, my husband and I are provisional members of Shannon Farm, work at professional jobs nearby, and are both deeply involved in the life of the community. Is our life in community an unending idyll? Of course not. Have we found what we were looking for? Yes: a beautiful, human-scale, peaceful environment; professional and personal stimulation; frequent opportunities to stretch the boundaries of our understanding of human nature; the experience of being part of a larger whole; a place to give of our talents and ourselves and to receive the same from others. About the Author: Julie Mazo first became interested in joining an alternative lifestyle community in the early '50s, but she never made the jump until 1989, after visiting six communities in a cross-country tour. During the years in betnveen, Julie became a mother, writer, editor, publisher, and business owner. This article was written in response to personal requests from friends she left behind in her recent move from San Diego. A features editor for this Directory, Julie is a writer and editor who also provides consulting services in marketing, conflict resolution, mediation, and training.