I am just curious about something. I have always been interested in communal living but I live a pretty mundane and modern life in the suburbs. Has anyone ever thought about finding some like minded people to share your home with? What about advertising homes for sale in your neighborhood in the hopes of building a sort of unintentional intentional community? Maybe I am just dreaming of ways to blend my reality with my dreams...
Its a good idea. You may want to check your local zoning ordinances to see if there is a rule about how many unrelated adults can live together - that was the end of Trellis House in Philadelphia. You also don't want to be in a really expensive neighborhood cause your neighbors may not want a communal house & could afford to hassle you. Here in California, I've put together a couple of communal houses that way - we were always renting - which was dumb for us - and the houses lasted a couple of years each - which isn't bad. If you can find a "white elephant" - a really big house - lots of bedrooms - the cost per bedroom is way lower. Ideally its a fixer-upper: makes it cheaper and you can invest in it and make it your dream which gives the group a common goal and a sense of ownership. Ideally you'll find the house in a neighborhood that has been down and is going up. The house I live in now - ~110 year old Victorian, three stories - 15 bedrooms, 12 - 20 people, could just as easily be a bit further from town - in a suburb. there is a site - wannastartacommune.com - where they tried to make communities out of suburban neighborhoods - they have a facebook group - dunno how that is turning out for them.
