Thanks for this reality check on sustainable communities. I work for a non-profit farm legally connected to an intentional community, though I don't live in the community, and it's interesting to see how your experience resonate with theirs. They've been keeping it going for over twenty years now; it's not easy, and they've faced many of the things you mention. Early on, they especially had conflicting visions among community members. Most left: I think only two of the original founders still live there.
But they do have a strong legal framework. (One of the founding members is a lawyer.) I don't know if they have an initial "buy-in" for residents, but residents do pay monthly rent as well as having an expectation of 10-15 hours/week devoted to the land/community. (Pretty much everyone has an outside job.) One of the founding members, in reviewing their history, said (paraphrased), "We went into this wanting learn about how to tend relationships with the land and learned very quickly that first and foremost we needed to tend relationships with each other."
At this point, they also have a lot of hands-on knowledge about building, farming, grant writing, fundraising, finding free/cheap materials and volunteers, etc. They have many relationships with community members who help keep the place going.
Thanks for this reality check on sustainable communities. I work for a non-profit farm legally connected to an intentional community, though I don't live in the community, and it's interesting to see how your experience resonate with theirs. They've been keeping it going for over twenty years now; it's not easy, and they've faced many of the things you mention. Early on, they especially had conflicting visions among community members. Most left: I think only two of the original founders still live there.
But they do have a strong legal framework. (One of the founding members is a lawyer.) I don't know if they have an initial "buy-in" for residents, but residents do pay monthly rent as well as having an expectation of 10-15 hours/week devoted to the land/community. (Pretty much everyone has an outside job.) One of the founding members, in reviewing their history, said (paraphrased), "We went into this wanting learn about how to tend relationships with the land and learned very quickly that first and foremost we needed to tend relationships with each other."
At this point, they also have a lot of hands-on knowledge about building, farming, grant writing, fundraising, finding free/cheap materials and volunteers, etc. They have many relationships with community members who help keep the place going.