I feel very cliche, but life has continued on and this project doesn't seem to be included any more. I'm not sure if I'm going to attempt to pursue a shared house again in the future or not. It's always an option in my mind, but I'm not sure if it's where I want to direct my energies.
I do have a small heap of knowledge about and connections with Seattle intentional communities, and I love to share the stuff I know. So if you've stumbled across this page because you are looking for an intentional living community in Seattle, or you're trying to start one, I'm totally open to chat about it.
Love,
Maggie
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Thursday, January 14, 2010
When? part 2
Ok, so if you've read over this blog and think the general idea is in line with something that interests you, you should come to a meeting!
This first deluge of meetings will be a lot of chatting and idea sharing. What's your vision of an intentional community, does it match reasonably well with mine? Where are some obvious differences? What concerns and questions do we have? I'm not expecting everyone to have a solid idea of what they're looking for. This is a check-in meeting to see who's interested and in what ways.
You do not need to attend every meeting! I'm trying to put out a wide variety of times and dates so I can meet as many people face-to-face as possible. (Not to be self-centric, but so far this idea has been in my head and want to see what's going on in everyone else's heads.) Even if you're my bestest friend in the whole wide world, please come to a meeting and participate in this discussion process. After these meetings we'll distill down who's game to start putting some work in and find a regular time that works for that group. We'll maintain communication with people interested who aren't able to put work in, but realize that putting the work in means that you participate in decision making and shape the community the way you want it to be.
Monday, January 25th: 7-8pm
Saturday, January 30th: 1-2pm
Thursday, February 4th: 7:30-8:30pm (confirmed)
Sunday, February 7th: 1-2pm
All will be held at 2106 18th Ave S, Seattle, WA. Just down the hill from the Beacon Hill light rail station; ample car and bike parking available.
RSVP not required, but it would be nice. magpie81 at gmail dot com
If you cannot make any meeting but are still interested please contact me (same email as the RSVP) and I'll keep you in the loop!
This first deluge of meetings will be a lot of chatting and idea sharing. What's your vision of an intentional community, does it match reasonably well with mine? Where are some obvious differences? What concerns and questions do we have? I'm not expecting everyone to have a solid idea of what they're looking for. This is a check-in meeting to see who's interested and in what ways.
You do not need to attend every meeting! I'm trying to put out a wide variety of times and dates so I can meet as many people face-to-face as possible. (Not to be self-centric, but so far this idea has been in my head and want to see what's going on in everyone else's heads.) Even if you're my bestest friend in the whole wide world, please come to a meeting and participate in this discussion process. After these meetings we'll distill down who's game to start putting some work in and find a regular time that works for that group. We'll maintain communication with people interested who aren't able to put work in, but realize that putting the work in means that you participate in decision making and shape the community the way you want it to be.
Monday, January 25th: 7-8pm
Saturday, January 30th: 1-2pm
Thursday, February 4th: 7:30-8:30pm (confirmed)
Sunday, February 7th: 1-2pm
All will be held at 2106 18th Ave S, Seattle, WA. Just down the hill from the Beacon Hill light rail station; ample car and bike parking available.
RSVP not required, but it would be nice. magpie81 at gmail dot com
If you cannot make any meeting but are still interested please contact me (same email as the RSVP) and I'll keep you in the loop!
A note on expectations and timeline
My expectation with these meetings is to start forming a group. The process involved in a group purchase is usually pretty lengthy and the commitment of owning a home is huge. There is tons of prep work to be done around how we're going to govern ourselves and the legal structure of ownership, as well as how we're going to finance this. And eventually finding an actual house that suits us.
Plus we all need to get to know each other and make sure this will be a viable (and prosperous) living situation for each of us.
I expect the whole process will take no less than one year. In fact, I want it to take at least a year so I can know you for a year before we own a house together. As for maximum durations, I think 3-5 years is tops, but I know that co-housing project routinely take much longer than that to get off the ground. I'll keep working on it for as long as I've got some people with me.
Plus we all need to get to know each other and make sure this will be a viable (and prosperous) living situation for each of us.
I expect the whole process will take no less than one year. In fact, I want it to take at least a year so I can know you for a year before we own a house together. As for maximum durations, I think 3-5 years is tops, but I know that co-housing project routinely take much longer than that to get off the ground. I'll keep working on it for as long as I've got some people with me.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
When?
I'd like to have all interested people get together and talk about our ideas. I'll be setting a number of dates in late January and early February. I don't think everyone needs to come to every initial meeting. The point of the meetings will be to get a reality check on interest (number interested as well as types of interests that are out there) and coming up with a regular meeting time/date that works for the largest number of interested folks.
Visit back here for updates on meeting dates. Or email me with questions/interest.
Visit back here for updates on meeting dates. Or email me with questions/interest.
What? -logistics of the people
~3-13 people living in one house.
~Each person would have their own room and all other spaces would be communal.
~Sharing equal decision making rights in the house, regardless of the share of the house they own. (potential for this to be consensus based decision making.)
~Every resident owns at least one share in the house. (Specifics of "shares" TBD; if non-residence can or can't own shares and their voting rights are also TBD)
~Each share is equity based. (i.e. NOT rent; more like a mini-mortgage so that when you sell your share you get at least a portion of it's value back, perhaps more than value. Specifics TBD.)
~Each person would have their own room and all other spaces would be communal.
~Sharing equal decision making rights in the house, regardless of the share of the house they own. (potential for this to be consensus based decision making.)
~Every resident owns at least one share in the house. (Specifics of "shares" TBD; if non-residence can or can't own shares and their voting rights are also TBD)
~Each share is equity based. (i.e. NOT rent; more like a mini-mortgage so that when you sell your share you get at least a portion of it's value back, perhaps more than value. Specifics TBD.)
What? -logistics of the house
~single family house, detached (i.e. not a duplex, townhome, condo, apartment building etc. or one of these that could be simple converted into one contiguous unit)
~resale (i.e. not new construction)
~traditional or craftsman style architecture or something with character (i.e. I prefer older homes)
~a garden-able lot; doesn't have to be large
~hardwood floors
~at least one living room of reasonable size for the amount of residents, or multiple living rooms
~a dining room or nook (which one, or both, would depend on how many residents)
~open/spacious kitchen (possibly a preference for two kitchens if we end up a larger group)
~bathrooms at a 3-1 ratio, at minimum
~I'm not afraid of fixer-uppers or repair/improvement opportunities (baring significant things like insect damage, foundation damage, etc. and provided the house is livable as-is.)
~resale (i.e. not new construction)
~traditional or craftsman style architecture or something with character (i.e. I prefer older homes)
~a garden-able lot; doesn't have to be large
~hardwood floors
~at least one living room of reasonable size for the amount of residents, or multiple living rooms
~a dining room or nook (which one, or both, would depend on how many residents)
~open/spacious kitchen (possibly a preference for two kitchens if we end up a larger group)
~bathrooms at a 3-1 ratio, at minimum
~I'm not afraid of fixer-uppers or repair/improvement opportunities (baring significant things like insect damage, foundation damage, etc. and provided the house is livable as-is.)
Why? -The Community
Vision ideas:
An "outward facing" community: The beginning and end of community would not be within the walls of our house. We would foster community in our house, which would provide resources for our communities beyond our household. Resident will be engaged in other Seattle communities which interest them (not limited to residential communities nor communities that are at all related to our vision.) The point of outward-facing is not to proselytize, but give outlet to our diverse interests and to bring more energy and diversity into the house.
A new housing model: The Seattle Housing market often traps our citizens in the rental market and denies any hopes of paying monthly into an investment instead of to a landlord. The ability to own property is not a human triumph of dominion over the land, but is an empowering act financially as well as creatively. This empowerment creates rich soil for a community to grow in. We would also be denying the isolation of the single-family home, and the destruction of older buildings and open space (i.e. yards) in favor of high density condo buildings.
A comfortable and nurturing residence: This would be an ideal we could aspire to and an on-going project to embark on. Clearly, conflicts are inevitable, but we can aspire to prevent them as much as possible and deal with them as best we can.
Creativity as a central theme: Creativity through dance, music, building things, fixing things, growing things, costume theme parties, etc. I foresee us stewarding the creative work that is the building we will reside in. I expect a generally "equal opportunity" environment that is LGBT friendly and sex-positive. A lot of our creativity will be directed towards finding a balance between [traditional/natural/sustainable/slow ways of being] and [modern/technological/innovative/fast ways of being] We will share resources within bounds we define for ourselves.
An "outward facing" community: The beginning and end of community would not be within the walls of our house. We would foster community in our house, which would provide resources for our communities beyond our household. Resident will be engaged in other Seattle communities which interest them (not limited to residential communities nor communities that are at all related to our vision.) The point of outward-facing is not to proselytize, but give outlet to our diverse interests and to bring more energy and diversity into the house.
A new housing model: The Seattle Housing market often traps our citizens in the rental market and denies any hopes of paying monthly into an investment instead of to a landlord. The ability to own property is not a human triumph of dominion over the land, but is an empowering act financially as well as creatively. This empowerment creates rich soil for a community to grow in. We would also be denying the isolation of the single-family home, and the destruction of older buildings and open space (i.e. yards) in favor of high density condo buildings.
A comfortable and nurturing residence: This would be an ideal we could aspire to and an on-going project to embark on. Clearly, conflicts are inevitable, but we can aspire to prevent them as much as possible and deal with them as best we can.
Creativity as a central theme: Creativity through dance, music, building things, fixing things, growing things, costume theme parties, etc. I foresee us stewarding the creative work that is the building we will reside in. I expect a generally "equal opportunity" environment that is LGBT friendly and sex-positive. A lot of our creativity will be directed towards finding a balance between [traditional/natural/sustainable/slow ways of being] and [modern/technological/innovative/fast ways of being] We will share resources within bounds we define for ourselves.
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