I was listening to the radio the other day and heard a piece about East Wind Community. It was interesting to me as these people were living a non-traditional lifestyle, and because I happen to buy their peanut butter. I buy their peanut butter, as it comes in a five pound tub, it’s natural without additives, and it’s fairly cheap. Anyway, the good people who make this live in what might have been called a commune in hippie times. (They are accepting applications now if you are interested.) Now it’s called an “egalitarian, democratic co-operative.”

Anyway following the links from this page, I discovered there are actually a ton of “intentional communities.” You can get the with or without gurus but apparently none in South Dakota.The most fascinating concept I ran across was cohousing. It’s sort of like living in a town house complex, but with more elaborate common areas where people eat. It seems like people also pitch in on community maintenance. This is fascinating to me. I think I coould live in one of these. Of course, I never want to move again so it’s unlikely to happen in the short term. If I am ever forced to move I’ll definitely look into this kind of arrangement. The only real concern I would have is having a jerk neighbor I have to eat with a couple of times a week.

While I was aware of communes I had never heard of cohousing. It’s a fascinating idea.

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