Hi, I've set up a test site for a 'Low-cost / Free accommodation network'. The site is in example/testing mode. I really don't know if the project will go ahead or not. It's largely a basis for discussion and criticism at the moment. The address is http://hl.afraid.org/accom/ . A provisional mission statement is this: This project will try to enable people to safely, and carefully, experiment with creative / innovative ways of finding a place to sleep - and fulfilling all the other needs that accommodation satisfies. We espouse co-operative - as opposed to competitive - economic practices. Although I was initially very enthusiastic about free accommodation networks - and although I still think that there are positive aspects to the projects - I have a few reservations about them - mainly: (i) The hosts are almost always saddled with the economic burden - whether that is the cost of electricity, or the work done in maintaining the house. (ii) None that I know of provide options for hosts to offer anything other than sleeping space. Some people might appreciate other facilities - such as the use of a shower, or cooking facilities, or a place to connect to the Internet briefly - even if hosts can't offer sleeping space. Would any of ye use this facility?
The objective of the project I was proposing would be somewhat different to that of other free accommodation sites. Most of the other projects I know of are primarily aimed at travellers. And, although some of the sites flippantly suggest that stays can be "even a few months or more", the reality is that - when one party is, as I mentioned above, saddled with the economic burden - there is very little scope for this to happen. I'm primarily interested in a project which provides people with tools to work on finding long-term accommodation. The idea - in a sense - is closer to that of the Intentional Community Database.
