Hi All!
I happened to pass by the bulletin board in the local Fred Meyer (an Oregon-based one-stop grocery, clothing, furnishings and home store) yesterday and a flyer caught my eye (it had bicycles on it; of course it caught my eye...), advertising an airing of
Within Reach, a documentary on one couple's bicycle journey across the US in search of the "perfect" sustainable community for their needs. The trailer and more information about their journey is online here:
http://withinreachmovie.com/home.shtml Sustainable communities are the dream lifestyle for some people, and are probably the ultimate expression of a Utopian "live locally" commons/communal lifestyle.
In the late 1960s/early 1970s, my part of Oregon was at the heart of the larger "Back to the Earth" movement on the West Coast, and a number of communes were established. These went largely by the wayside at the end of the '70s, but I see a "deliberate effort at communal living" is about to be sited within a mile of my home, and a number of sustainable communities are already (re)established well within a day's cycle ride of where I live, according to this movie's website. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out. In the past, such noble efforts have fallen victim to free-ridership, defections resulting in the tragedy of the Commons (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons ), and a vague sort of ennui before collapsing. At the other extreme, Oregon has seen what can occur when such visions become twisted and develop into something like Rajneeshpuram (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajneeshpuram ), so I remain wary of such efforts even as they hold a bit of appeal.
I seem to be too independent for such a lifestyle, but the trailer looks interesting and involves cycling.
Best,
Dan.