Best of Communities II: Seeking and Visiting a Community

Placeholder image for Foundation for Intentional Community website.
J McCune Porter
  • January 6, 2015
Cover of 'Best of Communities II' focusing on seeking and visiting communities.

Community Bookstore Special
Best of Communities ― The Cream of Our Crop

Seeking and Visiting a Community
by June, Community Bookstore Manager

Best of Communities Volume II
Seeking and Visiting a Community
Digital downloadable compilation PDF

The Foundation for Intentional Community is pleased to offer you the cream of our crop–the very best articles that have appeared over the last 20 years in our flagship publications: Communities magazine and Communities Directory.

We’ve distilled what we consider the most insightful and helpful articles on the topics that you—our readers—have told us you care about most, and have organized them into 15 collections. A few weeks back, we featured the first issue of this series—entitled Intentional Community Overview and Starting a Community. The second of these digital issues is about seeking and visiting communities.

Volume II. Seeking and Visiting a Community

If you’re seriously interested in community living, all experts agree that you’re wise to visit first. Not just because reality may not align exactly with the mental image you had based on written descriptions or phone calls, but because what you think you want and what you actually want aren’t necessarily the same thing, and it’s far cheaper to discover that before you sell your home and move to another zip code.

These 14 articles address in Seeking and Visiting Community how to get the most out of community visits, and also share diverse stories of community exploration. They walk you through the etiquette of setting up a visit (hint: don’t drop in unannounced), how to put your hosts at ease, and how to ask the right questions.They also provide tips to communities themselves on how to deal optimally with community-seekers.

This digital issue includes articles on:

  • Tips for guests and hosts
  • How to plan a visit
  • Choosing which community to visit
  • Interns and work exchangers
  • The art and ethics of visitor programs
  • and so much more!

You can buy this volume of The Best of Communities collection for only $10!

Order now!

All 15 issues of this collection can be found here, sold individually or in a bargain-priced bundle.

———-
Community Bookstore
800-995-8342

Comments

Featured Blogs

Keep the conversation going with these pieces

Sky Blue
Wed Nov 2017
Nébesna Fortin is a member of NextGEN North America among other affiliations, and serves on the Council for the Global Ecovillage Network of North America. For more 30th blog posts click here. I grew up in an ecovillage in Canada called La Cité Écologique. This project was born out of a child’s…
Christopher Kindig
Wed Aug 2013
  • New to community
  • Sustainability
The energy that falls on the U.S. in one hour of noon summer sun is almost equal to total annual U.S. electricity demand: http://huff.to/148bu39
Saul Of-Hearts
Sat Jul 2016
  • Economics & Law
Although not as famous as some of his contemporaries, the French thinker Charles Fourier was one of the early visionaries of the intentional community movement. A utopian socialist, he proposed that society should be organized into Phalansteres, or “grand hotels,” each housing several hundred to sev…
Kim Kanney
Mon Jan 2019
  • Relationships
Farming while black, traditional agriculture & transforming conflict: What’s new in the Bookstore What’s new in the FIC Bookstore? Don’t forget you can always frequent the Recently Added page to see what you’ve been missing. Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liber…
Christopher Kindig
Tue May 2015
  • Living in community
  • Life Transitions
Best Friends Build Tiny House Village Living in the same town was not enough for four couples who have been best friends for 20 years. They decided to double down on their relationship and buy a little bit of land “in the middle of nowhere” on the Llano River in the Hill Country of Texas. Fed up…
Kim Kanney
Sat Jun 2019
  • Economics & Law
This month’s Free Resource comes from Sustainable Economies Law Center, an organization whose mission is to “cultivates a new legal landscape that supports community resilience and grassroots economic empowerment.” Think Outside the Boss is an extensive resource guide intended to serve indivi…
Judith Bernstein
Wed Sep 2011
  • Living in community
  • Economics & Law
When a cohousing group’s honeymoon ends, and economic stress dictates selling units to any willing buyers, can a community’s core values and connections endure?
Saul Of-Hearts
Mon Jan 2017
  • Governance
One of the challenges of living in a community with lots of new residents or guests is getting everyone oriented to the tasks and projects at hand. When I lived at Foster Village, a 10-person community in Portland, Oregon, we had a membership committee in charge of welcoming new residents, and a lia…
Molly
Thu Jun 2008
  • New to community
The Valley Advocate out of Northampton, MA has an extensive article on intentional communities in western Massachusetts. The author starts her exploration in a book about Total Loss Farm, a community formed in the late sixties out of the peace movement. Amid concerns for peak oil and sustainability …
Christopher Kindig
Mon May 2015
  • Economics & Law
5 ​R​easons ​W​hy ​I​ntentional ​C​ommunities are ​More Relevant Than Ever In the 70’s and 80’s there was a flurry of intentional communities that then seemed to lose their relevance, and less followed. Interest and developments have once again mushroomed for obvious reasons. Here is a brief countd…

Insights & Stories from the Communities Movement

Subscribe to our newsletter for fresh stories and community updates delivered to your inbox.

Join the Communiversity Community

Get unlimited access to courses, exclusive member events, and a supportive network of community builders

Unlimited Learning

Access all courses, books, and premium content

Community Network

Member-only workshops and community builders

Exclusive Events

Member-only workshops and gatherings

Update to a Public Profile

  • Log in
  • Go to your profile page
  • Toggle on the "Add my profile to the directory"
  • Save your profile

Information

Communities

A residential project: people live here as their primary home.

Organizations

An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).

Plus Community Membership

  • Find people with Profile Match
  • Access to your community listing statistics
  • Create Discussion Groups
  • Access to our affiliate program
  • Member badge on your community profile
I am an official member of this community
Disclaimer
I affirm that my information is accurate and I am authorized to manage this listing
Foundation for Intentional Community FIC Member badge logo.

Free Plan

Free Membership
Free

Intentional Advertising

  • Subtotal

    {{ currencyFormat( pricing_summary.total_amount ) }}

Icon representing community connections and collaboration for intentional communities.

Plus Membership

  • Find communities with Profile Match
  • View detailed reviews about communities
  • Create free listings in Needs & Offers
  • Plus Member resources in CommUniversity
  • View communities detailed reviews
  • Plus Member badge on your profile