Intentional Community

[ragani]

I really want to create/participate in an intentional community. It has been one of my dreams for years, and one that I still want to see as a reality. Especially when(if) I become a parent. This would be such a great environment to be raised as a child.

My mom sent me a link to Dragonvale, an intentional community being developed in Main. We could so do something like this here is we could find the land (and in the bay area, that is a big if).

This concept of an intentional community has a lot of appeal, although it is not the reason I want to be part of one, and I am not sure that it is the kind I would want to develop myself.

What do you think, guys, can you imagine our very own sustainable community with a Renaissance Faire built in? And if so, what should we call it?

Comments

[ribbin.livejournal.com]

If I know you, I'm not aware of it:P I'm Anselm, friend of Liz'. Community: I think it would be a hoot! I've been playing with the idea myself, being essentially an entirely medieval village with no modern conveniences except where absolutely necesary (medicine, fire extinguishers, condoms, etc). Things like heating and a/c would be done the old way, riding horses, wearing home made clothes, etc. The idea being not so much a commune like atmosphere so much as a chance for curious people as well as intelectuals to get together and see what it really felt like back then. Was it really days of backbreaking labor, or is there something to the romantic stories of peasants living it up in the tavern?
I would like to avoid pretentions such as "period" accents, since that would detract from the actual living, while focusing on making things feel nature. I think the Amish communities could be an enormous help here.
That being said, I do like the idea of opening it up to the public for money (modern land taxes, etc), though with more of a re-enactment focus than a faire focus.
What say you?

-Anselm

[ragani.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Anselm.

The community thing itself is something I have been pondering for a long time, including wondering if I could do the whole "back to nature" thing. I probably have a larger list of conveniences (having just come back from a week camping there are some things I know I want), but there is a lot that could be made to be self sustaining, especially heating and cooling, and other energy drains.

Doing it as an education thing would be interesting. Hey, wonder if there is anyplace that gives grants for this type of thing?

Period accents and other pretensions to being "authentic" that do not contribute to self-sustaining living do not interest me. After doing Faire for over 13 years, I still do not feel the need to use an accent most of the time while there. The Dragonvale site links to a site that sells Amish built sheds, so they probably have looked into other other resources.

The whole idea of opening it up to the public is a whole new idea for me, which is what I found so interesting about Dragonvale.