Creating a Life Together

, by Christian, Diana Leafe

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ISBN: 9780865714717 | 0865714711
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 6/1/2003

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Summary

Supplemental Materials

Everything you need to know to create and manage an intentional community from scratch.

Acknowledgments

Foreword - By Patch Adams

xii

INTRODUCTION: CREATING A LIFE TOGETHER

The Successful Ten Percent

What Are Intentional Communities and Ecovillages?

xvi

Cohousing Communities

xvii

Why Now?

xvii

What You'll Learn Here

xviii

Is this Information Really Necessary?

xix

Is this Advice "Corporate"?

xix

How to Use this Book

PART ONE: PLANTING THE SEEDS OF HEALTHY COMMUNITY

(66)

CHAPTER 1: THE SUCCESSFUL TEN PERCENT - AND WHY NINETY PERCENT FAIL

(12)

Lost Valley - How One Group Did It

(1)

What Works, What Doesn't Work?

(1)

The Successful Ten Percent

(1)

Why Ninety Percent Fail

(1)

"Structural Conflict" - And Six Ways to Reduce It

(2)

What Will it Cost?

(1)

How Long Does it Take?

(1)

How Many People do You Need?

(4)

CHAPTER 2: YOUR ROLE AS FOUNDER

(6)

What Kind of Person Founds a Community?

(1)

What Else You'll Need

(2)

"If Only I Had Known!"

(2)

CHAPTER 3: GETTING OFF TO A GOOD START

(15)

Don't Run Out and Buy Land-Yet

(1)

When You Already Own the Property

(1)

Organizing Your Group

(5)

Getting Real about Finances

(2)

Collecting Funds

(1)

Raising Money from Supporters

(1)

Attracting and Integrating New Members

(1)

Creating Community Glue

(1)

Pioneers, Settlers, and the Flow of Members

(1)

CHAPTER 4: COMMUNITY VISION - WHAT IT IS, WHY YOU NEED IT

(7)

Sound a Clear Note

(2)

Elements of a Community's Vision Your Vision Documents and Vision Statements

(2)

Do it First

(2)

CHAPTER 5: CREATING VISION DOCUMENTS

(13)

More Than One Vision?

(2)

A Sacred Time

(1)

"That's Not Community!" - Hidden Expectations and Structural Conflict

(2)

Exploring the Territory

(5)

Sharing from the Heart

(1)

Writing it Down

(2)

CHAPTER 6: POWER, DECISION-MAKING, AND GOVERNANCE

(12)

Power - The Ability to Influence

(1)

Focused Power, Widespread Power

(1)

How Consensus Works

(2)

What You Need to Make Consensus Work

(2)

"Pseudoconsensus" and Structural Conflict

(2)

Agreement Seeking - When You Don't Want to use Full Consensus

(1)

Multi-winner Voting

(1)

Community Governance - Spreading Power Widely

(1)

More than One Form of Decision Making?

(2)

What Decision-making Method Should You Use?

(2)

PART TWO: SPROUTING NEW COMMUNITY: TECHNIQUES & TOOLS

(132)

CHAPTER 7: AGREEMENTS & POLICIES: "GOOD DOCUMENTS MAKE GOOD FRIENDS"

(7)

Remembering Things Differently

(1)

Giving Yourselves Every Chance of Success

(1)

Your Community's Agreements and Policies

(2)

Abundant Dawn's Agreements

(2)

CHAPTER 8: MAKING IT REAL: ESTABLISHING YOUR LEGAL ENTITY

(5)

Why You Need a Legal Entity - Before Buying Your Property

(1)

Using a Lawyer

(2)

Finding the Right Lawyer

(2)

CHAPTER 9: THE GREAT LAND-BUYING ADVENTURE

(19)

Legal Barriers to Sustainable Development

(2)

Shopping for Counties - Zoning Regulations, Building Codes, Sustainable Homesteads, and Jobs

(2)

The Proactive Land Search

(1)

Friendly Loans from Friends and Family

(1)

Onerous Owner-financing (Better than None at All)

(4)

Do-it-Yourself Refinancing with a "Shoe Box Bank"

(1)

When One Person Buys the Property

(1)

Acquiring Fully Developed "Turn Key" Property - Confidence, Persistence, and Negotiation

(3)

If at First You Don't Succeed

(4)

CHAPTER 10: FINDING THE RIGHT PROPERTY

(15)

Choosing Your Site Criteria

(1)

How Much Land Do You Want?

(1)

Raw Land - Lower Initial Cost, Years of Effort

100

(1)

Developed Land - Electricity, Toilets, and Showers

101

(1)

Fully Developed Turn-key Property - Move Right In (With a Big Financial Bite)

102

(1)

Buying Property Like the Professionals Do

103

(5)

Conducting the Search - On Your Own or with a Real Estate Agent

108

(1)

Investigating Likely Properties

109

(3)

Taking Property Off the Market While You do Further Research

112

(2)

CHAPTER 11: NEIGHBORS AND ZONING

114

(12)

How Zoning Issues can Impact Community Plans

114

(2)

Zoning Issues and Your Property

116

(2)

Gambling with Former Use Permits

118

(1)

Seeing a Zoning Exception

119

(2)

Negotiating for What You Want

121

(1)

Zoning Exceptions, Neighbors, and Public Hearings

122

(4)

CHAPTER 12: FINANCING YOUR PROPERTY (LOANS YOU CAN LIVE WITH)

126

(16)

About "Renting Money" - What You Should Know

126

(3)

Private Financing

129

(1)

When One Member Buys the Property

129

(1)

Protecting Your Sole Owner with a Triple Net Lease

130

(1)

Owner Financing

131

(1)

Bank Financing

132

(4)

Drawing on the Cohousing Model

136

(3)

What about Grants. and Donations?

139

(1)

Refinancing Your Property

139

(3)

CHAPTER 13: DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

142

(10)

Earthaven's Development Process

142

(4)

Listening to your Land

146

(1)

Creating your Site Plan Yourselves

146

(1)

Avoiding "Urban Refugee" Syndrome

147

(1)

Creating Privacy in the Midst of Community

148

(1)

Designing for Conviviality

149

(3)

CHAPTER 14: INTERNAL COMMUNITY FINANCES (CAN WE AFFORD TO LIVE THERE?)

152

(18)

Rural Communities - How Will your Members Make a Living?

153

(2)

The Risks of Community Businesses

155

(4)

Keeping Member Assessments Affordable

159

(1)

Joining Fees

159

(4)

Housing Arrangements

163

(1)

Site Lease Fees and the Debt Load

164

(1)

Labor Requirements

165

(2)

Building Equity

167

(1)

Can People Afford to Join You?

168

(2)

CHAPTER 15: LEGAL ENTITIES FOR OWNING PROPERTY

170

(19)

Checklist for Choosing a Legal Entity

170

(1)

How You'll Hold Title and Arrange Members' Use Rights

171

(2)

Organizational Flexibility

173

(1)

How You'll be Taxed

174

(1)

Overview: Corporations and Non-profit Corporations

174

(2)

Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs)

176

(2)

Homeowners Associations - Tax Advantages (and Disadvantages)

178

(4)

Condominium Associations

182

(1)

Housing Co-ops - Separate Ownership and Use Rights

183

(2)

Non-exempt Non-profit Corporations

185

(4)

CHAPTER 16: IF YOU'RE USING A TAX-EXEMPT NON-PROFIT

189

(10)

Advantages of a 501(c)3 - Donations, Tax Breaks, Limited Liability

189

(1)

Disadvantages of a 501(c)3 - Onerous Requirements, Irrecoverable Assets

190

(2)

Land-owning Entities and 501(c)3 Corporations - The Best of Both Worlds

192

(2)

How One Group Retained Control of its Board

194

(1)

Title-holding Corporations - Collecting Income from "Passive" Sources

194

(1)

Private Land Trusts-Protecting the Land

195

(1)

Community Land Trusts-An Irrevocable Decision

196

(1)

For "Common Treasury" Communities - 501(d) Non-profit Corporations

196

(3)

PART THREE: THRIVING IN COMMUNITY - ENRICHING THE SOIL

199

(42)

CHAPTER 17: COMMUNICATION, PROCESS, AND DEALING WITH CONFLICT: THE HEART OF HEALTHY COMMUNITY

200

(18)

The "Rock Polisher Effect"

201

(1)

Nourishing Sustainable Relationships

202

(1)

The Roots of Conflict: Emotionally-charged Needs

203

(2)

High Woundedness, High Willingness

205

(1)

Seven Kinds of Community Conflict We Wish We'd Left Behind

206

(1)

Twenty-four Common Sources of Community Conflict

207

(3)

The Fine Art of Offering Feedback

210

(1)

Receiving Feedback-Listening for Kernels of Truth

210

(2)

Threshing Meetings

212

(1)

Creating Specific Conflict Resolution Agreements

213

(2)

Helping Each Other Stay Accountable to the Group

A Graduated Series of Consequences

215

(3)

CHAPTER 18: SELECTING PEOPLE TO JOIN YOU

218

(12)

Select for Emotional Maturity-the "Narrow Door"

219

(2)

But is it Community?

221

(1)

Passive Victims, Outraged Victims

221

(2)

Membership Screening and the Law

223

(1)

Dealing Well with Saying "No"

223

(1)

How Can You Tell?

224

(2)

Questions, References, "Long Engagements"

226

(4)

APPENDIX 1: SAMPLE COMMUNITY VISION DOCUMENTS

230

(3)

APPENDIX 2: SAMPLE COMMUNITY AGREEMENTS

233

(5)

APPENDIX 3: SETTING UP AND MAINTAINING A 501(C)3 NON-PROFIT

238

(3)

RESOURCES

241

(4)

INDEX

245

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Creating a Life Together

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials