Learn how to join an intentional community by researching, considering expenses, specific interests, and age requirements, and asking many questions.
When looking for the ideal intentional community, the search can be daunting. You’ll have many types to choose from, ranging from a city duplex or townhome to a blissful acreage along the Oregon Coast or amid the Colorado Rockies. Big cities and small towns alike offer options, with smaller cities typically having lower cost-of-living expenses than larger ones.
No matter the location, co-housing involves “an intentional, collaborative neighborhood that combines private homes with shared indoor and outdoor spaces designed to support an active and interdependent community life,” as the Cohousing Association of the US describes. Intentional co-housing can also be referred to as a commune, ecovillage, or cooperative community. No matter the name, all share one thing in common: group living. Most of these communities schedule at least one monthly get-together for a meal or meeting as part of the group living experience.
How to Join an Intentional Community
Conduct online research. I began by conducting an online search for co-housing options for sale in Maryland, where I live. Only one property came up, and it had been sold three years ago. However, the listing still had the realtor’s contact information. The realtor connected me to a member at Liberty Village, an intentional community in Libertytown, Maryland, who explained the community’s concept and recommended the Foundation for Intentional Community and the Cohousing Association of the US. Both websites list co-housing properties with openings or for sale.
Consider expenses. Prices vary widely. As a low-end example, during my search, I found a small property in New Mexico, Awake-in-Heart Healing Center, where expenses are minimal if you fit the profile the community seeks. In exchange for 24 hours of labor per week, it offers a dwelling but requires help with food expenses. At the higher end, Mission Peak Village in Fremont, California, lists a price tag of $950,000 to $2.1 million for a 1-to-3-bedroom home with a move-in date of 2026.
When searching for your new home, research your potential community’s homeowners association (HOA) and community expenses. In one small-town community, a two-bedroom, two-bath home was selling for $499,000 with monthly HOA dues of $476. In this community, the HOA dues covered most utilities and common expenses. For a lower-cost comparison, Liberty Village’s HOA fees run $228 per month. Researching these costs should offer an accurate assessment of all fees involved to enable an informed decision.
Search for specific interests and requirements. Some co-housing communities have limitations and focus on specific types of residents, such as age 55 or older, LBGTQ, farmers and gardeners, or adherents of a specific religion. If you’d like part of your identity to be reflected in your co-housing, search for those distinctions.
If you want to be the founding member of a new community, use the Foundation for Intentional Community’s Communities Directory to search for communities in the formation stage. This tool also allows you to search for other critical community attributes, such as work-exchange and purchase and rental opportunities, as well as specify urban, suburban, small-town, and rural areas.
Look into any prospective community’s decision-making and governance methods. These methods can include consensus, modified consensus, voting, an elders council group, individual community leaders, sociocracy, or holacracy. Figure out which of these is right for you and join a community accordingly.
Books and Directories
The Foundation for Intentional Community website lists various books that can help in searches and understanding of co-housing. The Foundation’s Communities Directory Book, Edition VII offers more than 600 pages listing intentional communities worldwide.
I also searched my local library and found The Senior Housing Handbook: A Community Approach to Independent Living. For any seniors looking for alternative-living options, this can be a good place to begin researching.
Boots on the Ground
After online searches, telephone calls, and book research, the next step is to visit any prospective site in person. Most intentional communities have protocols for prospective new member-buyers, and each community has ways it offers visits. A community can host an open house where potential buyers come for a tour, or set a specific date for an individual visit without the distraction of multiple buyers. Visiting several communities will allow comparisons so you can find the best fit.
Compare what’s promoted on the website to what you experience during the visit. Closely examine living quarters and common areas for cleanliness and parking for proximity. Ask lots of questions and judge the feel of the community. Meeting current residents can provide valuable insights. If the community offers a “try-out” period, take advantage of it. After all, this is a big decision.
While searching for the ideal co-housing community takes time and intention, the rewards can be many. By conducting thorough and thoughtful research from home and on the ground, you’ll gain years of satisfying living in your chosen community.
Create an Attractive Edible Landscape
I’m starting to plan next year’s outdoor projects. How can I create a landscape that’s both beautiful and edible?
Start small and grow from there. In your planning, consider both your culinary and your aesthetic design tastes. Consider also that native plants support ecosystems while requiring less labor and resources from you.
Select disease-resistant varieties. Once you’ve chosen your plants, arrange them in height order throughout the landscape, with the tallest on the northern side. Plant trees first, followed by bushes, herbs, flowers, and vegetables. Most edibles require at least six hours of sunlight daily, so make sure all plants have adequate sun exposure. When planting trees, allow space for their full maturity. Check with your region’s extension agency to see whether fruit or nut trees require an additional tree for pollination.
Then, keep your plants healthy by vigilantly following sound gardening practices. Start with optimal plant soil, amending as necessary, and an effective water-delivery system. Sprinklers facilitate the delivery of water to large expanses, while drip irrigation delivers water directly to roots, with less waste and excess moisture on the plants, preventing fungus and disease. Keep plants and their surroundings trimmed, increasing ventilation while decreasing moisture, fungus, and insects.
Get more from your edible landscape through succession planting. For example, as you harvest a warm-season lettuce, replace it with a cool season kale to vary your edible landscape’s look and harvest.
Proactively protect plants from expected pests and weather extremes. Use fencing, row covers, or other protective measures. Occasionally ventilate any row covers to avoid heat damage to your plants.
Early pruning helps establish a tree’s health, structure, and stability for the long term.
Design Tips
- Vertical heights draw the eye upward, filling and extending space voids.
- Horizontal lines establish cohesion.
- Consider a tree’s seasonal colors, the colors of its bark and foliage, and the colors of other plants when designing a landscape.
- Complementary colors can provide an appealing contrast, while a monochromatic use of one color, such as green, in varying shades can add a calming sense of peace and tranquility.
- A look of uniformity requires regular trims and grooming. If you desire less formality, allow plants to grow with less manicuring, lending a casual appearance.
- You can also outline beds and walkways with curved lines, rather than straight. Mulch adds to a plant’s health and prevents weeds while adding depth to the landscape. Stone or mulch walkways can be elaborate or casual; either will add character.
- Solar lighting will extend your hours of enjoyment in an edible landscape.
Edible Landscaping Plants
- Before consuming any of these plants, positively identify the plant and confirm which parts are edible.
- Bushes: Blackberry, bush plum, mulberry, pineapple sage, wintergreen.
- Herbs: ‘Dark Opal’ basil, lavender, rosemary, sage, silver thyme.
- Flowers: Bee balm, calendula, chamomile, day lily, hibiscus, honeysuckle, marigold, mums, nasturtium, rose.
- Trees: Apple, beech, birch, cherry, crabapple, hazelnut, fig, macadamia, maple, pecan, pinyon pine, poplar, slippery elm, willow.
- Vegetables: Collards, ‘Jericho’ lettuce, kales, land cress, ornamental peppers, society garlic.
– Monica White
