Cohousing-L Mailing List: Visiting communities...

[Tom Patton (tom]

Hello co-housers...

I am getting ready to take a motorcycle tour of the U.S. this summer, and I
would love to see some cohousing communities up close and personal.  My dates
of travel will be from early September through mid-November.  I have not
yet chosen a precise route, but I am pretty sure I will be in/near the following
cities:

    Austin, TX (home)
    Des Moines, IA (parents' home)
    Chicago (maybe a 2-3day trip from Des Moines, sans Motorcycle)
    Boulder
    Seattle
    Portland
    San Francisco
    Tuscon
    Santa Fe

If any of you live in or know of cohousing communities or intentional
communities that would be receptive to a quick visit, please let me know.
Communities in, around, or en route to (counterclockwise circle of the
western/midwestern US) the above cities would be sure candidates for me,
although my itenerary will in part be shaped by the responses I receive.
I do own the _Directory of Intentional Communities_ and the McCamant/Durrett
_Cohousing_ guide, and plan to use these to contact some groups.  

I will be packing complete camping equipment, and will not need to stay
in a room.  In addition, I would be more than happy to contribute to any 
work that needs done during my stay.  Ideally, I would like to stay at 3 or 4
different communities for about 1-3 days each.  I am particularly interested
in finding a couple of communities that are different from one another to
give me a broader idea of possiblities.  For instance, one urban, one rural,
one pre-planned, one retrofited neighborhood, one income-sharing Intentional 
Community, etc. (I am planning on contacting East Wind eventually,  
this electronic stuff is just more convenient)

A little about myself:  I am 25 years old, and have been interested in 
alternative architecture, co-housing, and intentional communities
for a couple of years now.  However, its been a pretty casual interest,
and I want to take the next step and actually meet some people who are
doing it (other than electronically, which, BTW, has been great!) 
I'm sick of paying rent, but unsure that I want to lock myself into the
traditional real estate market.  

Any suggestions (including groovy Nat'l parks, city attractions, festivals
during this time, or whatever) are *greatly* appreciated.  

If it doesn't pertain to the entire mailing list, feel free to send replies
to the email address below.

Thanks a bunch,

tom

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   Tom Patton                                      Unison-Tymlabs
   tom_patton [at] unison.com                           Austin, Texas USA
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