This thread is for the discussion of options for people interested in changing their living environments some time in the next year or so. It's a place to:
- Share your situation to get an outside view
- Get on the radar of potential roommates
- Discuss existing communities or places that may be a good fit
- Describe what you're looking for in a living environment
- Post your procedure for deciding where to live
- Coordinate with others to find compatible roommates
- Discuss which factors are relevant to deciding where to live
- Post resources or data relevant to deciding where to live
Whether you're graduating from college, moving for a new job, or looking to further optimize your living environment for other reasons, talking with others can help you identify options, catch inaccurate beliefs or poor reasoning, meet potential roommates, and more. Thanks to everyone who contributes!
(This thread has been on my mind for a while. Reading this recent roommate-seeking post inspired me actually write and post it. I'll post my own situation in the comments below.)
To discuss the concept of this thread (rather than participating in the thread's intended discussion), please reply to this comment. Credit goes to the open transactions thread and group rationality diary for some of the style and wording of this post.
Coordinate: Bounce ideas off each other through skype/email, draft roommate agreements, partially finance if I can, move in myself, plan and lead house projects, etc.
Like minicamp is still very different from minicamp when you're talking about going from four days together to all-year-round. Is this targeted towards young graduate-age? It's going to be a very different kettle of fish depending on whether college is involved, or kids.
The actual place seems less important to me than that I actually like and trust the people next to me. That's probably why I like the idea of the mini-camp house so much; I implicitly trusted everyone at mini-camp. This was partially because I pegged the group as coming from a demographic that was unlikely to screw people over a priori, partially because I trusted that most people there would have good reason and an admirable plan before trying something, and partially because I'd gotten all sentimental and couldn't help but identify the group as my tribe. But there wasn't enough time or pressure there to be proven right or wrong. We'd have to work hard and intentionally to keep an enriching, collaborative environment like that going long-term. The exact kind of intentionality I haven't seen put into keeping in touch after minicamp, by myself or anyone else. (That's harder to admit than I thought it would be, that I've been failing miserably in my plans to keep these connections open and that it counts as evidence against the feasibility of creating my own long-term community.)
As far as places go, my mind keeps being drawn back to my friend's efforts to create a tiny house neighborhood. It's highly available to me, and the criteria just seem to overlap so well. Affordable, good amenities, close to working places, intentional community... I'll get back to you about actual places once I finish my own research.
Thanks for this detailed post!
I have assumed a certain level of compromise when considering living situations. For example, I have assumed that people would not be willing to move a specific city for the primary purpose of joining an awesome living environment, but would instead be willing only to optimize within preexisting geographical constraints.
If there were enough people willing to relocate somewhere for the primary purpose of establishing an awesome living environment, that opens up a new class of opportunities more appealing than the ones I've been... (read more)