I would like to start a commune in LA - where to begin?

I am planning to move to LA later this year and interested in starting my own commune up there. Nothing is set in stone by any means, but as of now, I intend for it to be an all women's commune that mirrors the experience of an all women's college--except for young working professionals instead of students. I'm not sure where to begin, however. Where should I look for others who might be interested in helping me?

Thanks for any advice!

 

Hey not to try to tell you what to do. But communes should not be against any sex or race joining. If you have it set where only certian people can be welcome then you will have hate and it will have a negitave impact on something good your trying to start.

 

Hm...really? If colleges can do it and do it with great success, why do you think a commune wouldn't be able to? Not asking in a challenging way; I'm just curious as to why you think so, because I'm sure you know more about communes than I do (since I just began getting interested in them). I have already seen some communes with restrictions such as "gay only" or "only non-smokers/non-drinkers", so why not "women only"?

 

http://www.permies.com/t/20401/community/starting-successful-communities-buying-land

This was written by Diana Leafe Christian, who has written the only book I can recommend on starting an intentional community.

 

Do you mean Louisiana or Los Angeles?

If you mean Louisiana, I haven't any idea.

If you mean Los Angeles I hope you have big bags full of cash because to find anywhere suitable will cost you a small fortune, like millions just for the land.

 

lulz. you beat me. Could also mean Lower Alabama?

Los Angeles and communes don't sound like they'd go well together but...

Don't forget http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hog_Farm
is the longest running still in existance hippy commune, started in the 60's just north of L.A.

 

May I point out here that when the Hog Farm first came north to San Francisco they crashed with us (Good Earth Commune) at our main house (1915 Oak) for a week or so and we are also still here......
http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=112058&f=654

 

Beautiful ! :love:

 

Ah, yes, I meant Los Angeles! It probably will remain a pipe dream for a while then, huh? Well, I wonder if I can make something similar to a commune but not quite...hmmm...I really want to create something that is like a women's college but with professionals rather than students. Several of my relatives attended women's colleges and all loved their experience; it has always sounded like something I would love to do. However, I am not actually interested in going to -college- and I already am working on my career, so I'd like to create an alternative for others that would enjoy the sisterhood, community with other women, partaking in traditions, clubs, and all that. Maybe I will just have to create a club of some sort, though I really liked the idea of us living either together or at least in the same community...

 

Well like I said, you better have a buttload of $$$$$ if you want to entertain the idea of a commune in Los Angeles proper. Maybe central/northern Ca. or even some place southeast in the desert, but Los Angeles is a cesspool that I avoid at all costs.

Plus you'll have a lot of competition with the gangs. If you ain't selling crack, meth and heroin and be willing to put a cap some Mofo's ass, you won't survive.

I fucking hate L.A. county!
(no offense meant towards any Angeleno HF members )

 

keep poking around here, and read all you can here and other places about communes.

this is a VERY good thread about a real life commune. it's long. check that out and when you can pm, rap with some cali folk.

Those kinds of communities are all over the so cal area. :sunny:

 

I'm sorry, but that is a MASSIVE generalization that can be said about ANY densely populated city... Don't include your personal bias in advice for others.

 

YEAH !!! :toetap05:

 

^^^^^ yeah! although my personal experience has led me to my personal bias toward living in this little mountain ghost town....

 

When was the last time either of you drove through Los Angeles???????
For me it was about 6 weeks ago. Still a cesspool.

Of course there are nice areas in LA county and bla,bla,bla....
BUT
Los Angeles city and the surrounding county/suburbs sure as hell isn't where I would consider starting a commune for lot's of reasons, one main one being the extortionate cost of real estate

But Vincente, can I ask you a question?

Generally when people ask such questions they are SPECIFICALLY looking for personal, biased opinions,
otherwise they could just Google it and get all the nice demographics, shopping, schools, bla, bla, bla,.

So you want to give me shit for giving my honest answer???
I should lie and say it's fucking paradise?

I won't even get into the L.A. city police or even worse, the L.A. Sheriffs.
I pity the poor fool who gets busted by L.A. Sheriffs.

and Voyage...your just being obstinate and contrary to everything I say.
Have you taken it upon yourself to try and "reform" me in some manner lately?


To Cheery, there are lot's of nice places in Ca. for something such as you envision, but Los Angeles isn't one of them unless as I already said, you have a ton of money to finance it. Sadly the nice areas in L.A. county are also some of the most expensive areas to live in the country.

 

You Sir, (i think?) know the answer to that question. If not, pm me.

Of course not.
Is it lying to say that the only two descriptions of Los Angeles are that it's either a cesspool or a fucking paradise?
Get real Buddy. Or quit going to Compton to score your droogs! hehe.

When did you become such an absolutist? Stand by for more pm's

I am fucking not.

I've admired your posts back to early PBSmith days, as you know and I've learned alot from you. You've been an inspiration to me to engage in some of the "deeper" discussions here, (quite poorly I might add) and have complimented me once or twice in the past which I appreciate as well.

You don't see me in those threads often lately and I also suspect you know why that is as well. If you have something like this on your mind dude always pm me but is this a good place to do it?

That seems a bit more rational to me, even if I sound like i'm just agreeing with you.
All I was saying to her is that the kinds of community she's interested in are all over the place in So Cal... not just Los Angeles but your neck of the woods too.

The Hog Farm started in Los Angeles city limits. And ya, there's a reason they moved. Money isn't the be all or end all... here's an active listing now for 65 acres of rural undeveloped land not far from the original Hog Farm, for $600k, not exactly a boat load of money for so cal, or most places honestly.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/111-Vac-cor-Crown-Valley-clayvale-Acton-CA-93510/2114241699_zpid/

I happen to be intimately aquainted with OCSD by way of having worked many times at John Wayne. It's possible I do know a little about what LAPD, LASD OCSD and CHP are all about.

 

Fine, in an overall assessment of the idea of starting a commune or similar in Los Angeles. city or county, there are way better places to pick for lots of reason's.
I know you are familiar with the area and know you grew up here, but I still hold to my opinion, I fucking hate Los Angeles, period. So yeah my personal bias.

The place you mentioned is pretty far from LA city and not within the county, hell it has the Angeles national forest separating it from L.A.
And I did say there a lots of places in central (like what you posted) and northern and southeastern Ca. that would be better.

If you have worked in the area, then you know L.A. county Sheriffs are some of the worst, almost as bad as Orange County sheriffs. They both have more of a "got to prove something" attitude than regular city police.
Honestly, I'm in fear for my safety if I get stopped by a sheriff.

 

I lived in Cali for ten years, and often went through LA. The city as a while is not the some of its worst part. If that were the case, New York would be a horrid place because of the Bronx.

Cali is a hard place to live because of HIGH financial demand for property, high taxes, and overall cost of living vs rate of income. So yes, you will have some bad places. But just because a city has more than a few bad spots doesn't mean it is a cesspool. It means they are crippled in a way that their leaders are incapable or unwilling to change it. Don't be biased over an AREA, be biased over the people in control of it.

When someone asks advice, they are looking for fact-based variables that will effect/affect their ability to achieve a successful outcome. Not "You won't be successful cause this place suck, I know it sucks, cause I don't like this place."

(Here's a generalization for you) People tend to ask for advice and info cause they don't want to do the work themselves. It's easier to ask others for opinions, than to do the hardcore research to find out the facts.

What may be honest and true for you, will not always be so for others.

 

Naw, come on man...

totally, which i never meant to sound like i disagreed !

thats an awesome start...

right on and, ya that's all i was sayin lolz. i've gone back and forth about LA but the more i traveled, the more i realized that EVERY place has its good and bad, some more than others.
know why i try to make my front yard and porch (eventurally my back yard) look like a tropical oasis? cause i can't afford to live in a real one.

i beg to differ...
Los Angeles City Council Districts.

Los Angeles County Supervisorial Districts

that place is a 45 min motorcycle ride from the north city limits. ya, through the National Forest. aren't we lamenting cities, not semi-wild open space? driving south on 101, you hit "city" (dense housing with little open space) about Calabasas, and don't get out of "city" till way freakin El Toro practically. City and community boundaries there you can only tell from a map cause you never see "city limits"... just endless city.

i say that's a bonus for a guy that likes to ride bitchin ass canyons. maybe not so much for someone that wants to live a block from a restruant and liquor store. ANF is huge man, from Gorman to Upland.

point was, even though it's "close to schools"... it's prime land, that costs $120K down and $2k a month plus taxes. that's totally reasonable for 10 hippies to, grow food and animals, mostly undisturbed, a water well on the land...
who could ask for anything more? i'd TOTALLY dig living in Acton, they have next to none of the "cesspool" shit you're talking about in other areas.
OC ain't no Hawaii either my friend.
If 10 people, with $12K ea and 200 bucks a month apiece, can't figure out how to build a "commune" on 65 acres zoned for horses and farming with it's own free water source, if they can't get that together to make it work well... then dunno what else to say.

agreed again Sir, sez the man that wouldn't live where you do. better is in the eye of the beholder.

i'll talk to you privately about that, k ? :sunny:

 

I've never even been to Cali, but LA doesn't seem like a good area at all. probably ghetto as fuck