Author Topic: Serenbe Community?  (Read 1418 times)

broomfielder

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Serenbe Community?
« on: April 16, 2020, 05:29:50 PM »
Hi guys, I've been reading MMM for 5+ years now and always lurking the forum, but I saw something today that I just had to register and comment about.

Has anyone heard of the Serenbe community in GA? I came across the community on this article:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/finance/realestate/the-fancy-neighborhood-of-the-future-is-an-earth-friendly-e2-80-98intentional-community-e2-80-99/ar-BB12IxJR

Their website is currently down, so below is also a link to the webarchive from a couple days ago. Interesting video by the founder.

https://www.serenbe.com/
https://web.archive.org/web/20200414131149/https://www.serenbe.com/

I've been hoping, waiting, wishing, that MMM would start a similar community in Colorado. Is anyone aware of a similar community in the West? How can we get MMM to lead us into this concept? I know he was kinda posting about this back in 2017.

KBCB

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Re: Serenbe Community?
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2020, 06:23:02 PM »
I think this is quite amazing. I would love to be part of something like this. The sense of community and well being is so important to health and happiness. Thanks for the share. I was surprised at how large the buildings were in the birds eye view.

terran

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Re: Serenbe Community?
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2020, 06:39:54 PM »
I could see it being great. I could also see it being like living with the HOA from hell. I'm skeptical, but intrigued.

mozar

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Re: Serenbe Community?
« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2020, 10:12:19 AM »
There are a bunch intentional communities in the USA. Start googling, figure out what you're looking for and start your own .

sbeklaw

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Re: Serenbe Community?
« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2020, 11:14:20 AM »
My wife and I went and visited a few years ago to see what it was all about.  It was a bit of a disappointment.  The folks we met weren't very mustachian, the houses cost twice as much as similar properties nearby, there weren't any bike lanes or handicap accessible anything.  It seemed to us like they were all spending a lot of money to say they were saving the earth or supporting the arts.  Maybe it's changed some in the last five years, but it wasn't a good fit for us.  Instead, we found a property we liked about twenty minutes away in Tyrone.  It isn't an intentional community by any stretch, but its way cheaper and more convenient to everything.  Half the price for a house on seven acres that's five minutes from Publix and twenty-five minutes to the airport in morning traffic.  Peachtree City is just ten minutes the other way.

All that said, we'll probably head up there from time to time to go eat or see an exhibit.

FIRE Artist

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Re: Serenbe Community?
« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2020, 11:36:49 AM »
My wife and I went and visited a few years ago to see what it was all about.  It was a bit of a disappointment.  The folks we met weren't very mustachian, the houses cost twice as much as similar properties nearby, there weren't any bike lanes or handicap accessible anything.  It seemed to us like they were all spending a lot of money to say they were saving the earth or supporting the arts.

This is why I think most intentional communities of any kind don't appeal to me, they are usually too tied to their dogma and that doesn't appeal to me.  I envision an MMM intentional community to have a bunch of bike trails (great), while being really, really able body centric and not a fit place to age in place, for example.  I also couldn't imagine living somewhere where I thought I needed to justify any purchase I made for fear of being judged by my neighbours.  No thanks.

Gaca

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Re: Serenbe Community?
« Reply #6 on: April 25, 2020, 10:35:41 AM »
I’ve lived in Serenbe for over 10 years. Love it. Changed my life. Can’t imagine living anywhere else, and I’ve lived in some very nice places, mostly out West.

Serenbe is mustachian in that people truly focus on community and quality of life.  However it is not cheap, so a better fit for the Fat FIRE crowd. The surrounding community of Chattahoochee Hills is quite affordable and FIRE folks who like Serenbe could look there.

Regarding the OP’s question, with enough capital you could use the same principles
to build a community anywhere. You can design it to be affordable, but if you do the job well the market will drive up prices over time.

If you’re truly interested, check out  the Serenbe Stories podcast. The founder, Steve Nygren, goes into extraordinary depth regarding the history and design of the community.

Nygren is coincidentally from MMM’s hometown of Longmont, CO.  One reason Chattahoochee Hills kept its rural character is Nygren brought the concept of Transferrable Development Rights (TDRs) here from Boulder County. That is all covered in the podcast as well.