how to start a community

since i am 15 or 16 i knew i wanted to live in a community. in my imagination, that means living together with my loved ones, having practices that really connect us and growing our food ourselves.

i always felt like that's much closer to how we're supposed to live than the isolated lifestyle in cities. i think it's awkward for our hunter-gatherer brains and emotions that we live closeby hundrends of thousands of people, but we are not really connected with them. in hunter gatherer socities that would never happen and probably it was really weird just seeing a human that you were not connected to.

so many people around me crave the same. so little actually live like this.
i think what comes in the way for most people is not wanting to be away from real life too much, or fear about it. also, how to earn money and a living there. also maybe fear around it being a sect or something.

this blog post will be changing with time, i will start with some simple thoughts and expand along the way.

amentities

• a permaculture garden, where we reuse crops, water, fecals to create healthy soil and amazing food
• animals: chickens, maybe goats or sheep, cats & dogs. but chickens for sure
• a common place: maybe a yurt where we can communal dinners & ceremonies. maybe with a fireplace. additionally maybe a bigger space for events, something like a maloca
• family houses: each family gets their own house
• facilities: a little home gym, boxing bag & weights, sauna, ice bath, outdoor showers

business model

not sure if this makes sense, but i think this could be done in a way that the communtiy creates revenue, that can be used either to pay back investors (which in turn can enable us to get more land), or to finance helpers, materials etc. we'd have to think more about this but revenue streams could be airbnb's, retreats & renting out as retreat space, long-term rentals, selling crops, maybe government subsidies?

principles

i think it will be crucial to have strong principles, to hold together the community and also to attract the right people. not entirely sure yet what those would be but what comes to mind is

• authenticity / integrity: don't lie, do what you say, show yourself fully
• responsibility: assume 100% responsibility for your surroundings. we need to get away from the responsibility-avoiding mindset in our society, where we consume resources and let others clean up / bear the consequences.
• love: something around that we stick together, and that to a certain extent probably one needs to sacrifice personal wellbeing for communal spirit sometimes. need to explore this more.

financial and other needs

i did the following rough math:

• ~100sqm per person for growing food for 100% self suffiency (need to fact check this)
• ~20-30? sqm per person to live? --> 5 families _ 4 people per family = 20 people --> 20 _ 130sqm = 2600sqm = 2.6ha

• build houses

next to size of land soil quality and weather conditions are important. i want to make sure we are in an area that, with the predicted global warming will still be okay and not overly dry. i heard hungary has the best soil in europe.

ideally there are also other conscious people around. would make things easier. also regulatory hurdles should be low.

how can we make this happen?
one option are investors, that would invest into the project, just like you can into a company. the company would hold the land, giving it inherent value. additionally investors can get a return on their money from the revenue we make. ideally they are also interested in having impact or maybe even live in the community themselves.
another one is just people co-investing. everybody owns a part of the land.
or i just become really wealthy.

steps to get there

on one side just planning, talking to people etc. i want to start a podcast and talk to community founders about their experiences. i also need to make as much money as possible and scout locations. ideally also learn more about building houses and real estate development. and permaculture.