Anyone spend any time in a commune/ecovillage?

[Gone Fishing]

When I was in college, I worked at a camp for three of my summers.  Most of our meals were prepared and consumed together.  Sunshine, exercise, and entertainment were abundant.   You didn't need a vehicle, or even cash for that matter.  Television was not present.    Friendships were forged quickly, and even though we were busy, there was still plenty of time for quiet reflection/reading, etc.  The experience was truly liberating.   

The closest permanent living arrangement that I can think of would be one of the various ecovillages such as http://www.dancingrabbit.org/ or http://www.earthaven.org/.  While I don't think it would work for me due to the decision making processes and potential for drama/rumors/politics among the members, but I do find the ecovillages to be interesting.  Probably as close as you can come to a like minded, low consumption, community.   Has anyone spent any time in one of these types of communities?  If so, what was your experience?     

[Roots&Wings]

Yep! Back in my radical younger days :) Arcosanti in AZ for a time, and also some ecovillage cohousing communities (Milagro in Tucson, Manzanita in Prescott AZ, Westwood in Asheville, NC).

Not for me due to the reasons you stated, as well as the common fees/cost. All have visiting or rental options so that you can make a more informed decision.

[RootofGood]

Yep! Back in my radical younger days :) Arcosanti in AZ for a time, and also some ecovillage cohousing communities (Milagro in Tucson, Manzanita in Prescott AZ, Westwood in Asheville, NC).

Not for me due to the reasons you stated, as well as the common fees/cost. All have visiting or rental options so that you can make a more informed decision.

At first I was like "Woah, a communal living place in my state! I might have to try it out!". 

Then saw the $300k+ price tag for this 1200 sq ft house: http://www.westwoodcohousing.com/A4.html

And then noticed "wow, everyone's white" here:  http://www.westwoodcohousing.com/ 

I'm sticking with my diverse groovy little neighborhood that's 50-75% less expensive than that place. :)

I'm sure the drama and politics would get to me as I'm more of a libertarian-minded pro-capitalist free spirit rather than the more classical eco-hippie free spirit.  Not that there's anything wrong with that. 

[Jakejake]

I've spent just a few days at dancing rabbit, visiting my daughter who was doing a long work study there (I've forgotten now if she was there 6 months or a year). The communal dinners were actually very cool, I liked that aspect a lot even though I consider myself an introvert. There was open access to the kitchen in case you wanted to make your own meal. She was on a building crew doing natural building (cob house type stuff), and she camped in a tent for the duration, but had access to common rooms in case of storms. As a guest I was in the hotel, so I didn't have to deal with things like emptying the composting toilets. You should be very comfortable in your own skin if you go - they pretty much all wore clothes for normal chore/living type stuff, it's not like they were traditional nudists, but then for bathing it was pretty common for them to just strip down and go swimming in the lake.

I didn't hear much about rumors/gossip type stuff from her while she was there; it seemed like they were all very supportive of each other. One of my favorite parts was the no talent show, where some people had traditional musical talent, but also little kids would go up and tell a particularly lame joke, and everybody was overwhelmingly positive about that sort of thing. The people there did not seem judgmental at all.

[Romag]

I have long been interested in Ithaca Ecovillage.

http://ecovillageithaca.org/

Not really sure if it would be best for me, but I like the concept and they have an interesting, varied community. A visited a friend who was housesitting there a few years ago and liked what I saw.

[Breadwinner]

Yes, currently living in such a place. Yes, there can be gut wrenching drama and politics. Decision making is by consensus, which is sometimes totally ineffective when you have a few stubborn people who resist change.

However, overall I am pretty content. The cost to live here is less than $2000 a year including utilities. I live in a private house on the land, so I only share meals with other community members occasionally.

Yes, we do have a swimming pond & yes we do swim nude. Skinny dipping is one of my favorite parts of living here. People are totally cool about it, and we rarely get creeps here because it is not a public place. Everyone has to be invited.

If you go to ic.org you will find a long list of intententional communities. There are so many of them, all with different social, land, and economic dynamics.

I love knowing who my neighbors are and working together to improve the huge property we share. I love living on a property that is so much more spectacular than I could afford on my own.

Finally, you will find that a common thread at intentional communities is to live lightly on the earth, and be thoughtful about ones interactions with others. You will find that most people living this way appear fairly moderate in temperament and are not over the top hippie cliches.

Go ahead, check a bunch of them out!

[arebelspy]

Following.  This sounds like it would be a fun adventure for awhile.

(A Mustachian-based commune type place has been proposed/discussed before in several threads if someone wants to search.)

[Thegoblinchief]

The only one I've heard of that appeals to me - and only for an educational visit - is the Possibility Alliance, which is a zero petrol, permaculture farming based community in MO. It has a lot of similarities with Mennonites, except with very modern agriculture techniques.