In that perfect neighborhood we have great barbeques, get out the kiddie pool on rare hot days, help out our neighbors, look in on the sick and elderly, and tend a community garden together. Our landlord has paid for this block of homes many times over. Since he’s so cool, he keeps the rent relatively low. Wait… What?
This is an imagining of The Land Office a project of the Imaginal Services Bureaux which is in turn a project of Cooperation Humboldt. We are imagining the most just use of property for sale in Humboldt County. This is a work of art. You can read our Principles or just read on…
Why aren’t there more community owned neighborhoods? Imagine if you will this cute little group of homes not as the next investment opportunity for someone who can leverage $650,000 into a perpetual intergenerational money making machine, but rather a perfect circle of self-empowerment. Perfect Circle Court.
Family life is grand on Perfect Circle Court…
Before we go any further we need to address the mathematical issue of the perfect circle. Said perfect circle can only be imagined. In the real world an infinite number of points the exact same distance away from a fixed point on a plane can only be suggested, not accomplished in a tangible way. We are dealing with real materials and their inconsistencies.
Don’t even get us started on trying to draw a perfect circle.
This is important. While we may not get it perfect, we can imagine a perfect world and we can take actions to make things better (not perfect). Since we have a sense of humor, however, we will still call it “Perfect Circle Court” for fun.
One thing we know for certain is that this current system of some being able to charge others for the right to sleep in peace is just freaky. Our progeny shall look back generations in the past (to now) with a mixture of sadness and confusion comparable with the way we look upon the serfdom in the Dark Ages. However, they will also see our struggle for liberation with gratitude. One place they can see this is Perfect Circle Court.
While this grouping of homes is not in a circle, the flow of the path through the space makes a circuit and is central to the property. Imagine the folks living in these dwellings working together for the betterment of each other’s lives rather than toiling alone to pay off the new owner’s mortgage.
So many shared dreams can fit in this shed.
We imagine the collective ownership bringing the folks who live here together. While families with kids in their houses can play together, they also learn how to be human by bringing meals to their elderly neighbor who in turn shares her knowledge of woodworking with the young single man who builds a trellis for entry to the garden which is in turn maintained by all the community but planned by the permaculture heroine who shares her knowledge with her own kids as well as the rest of the young ones. It goes on and on…
We are saddened that some folks consider the only way to find security in their old age is by “owning a rental property.” If you are in that place, we get it. We go to work in ways that are not perfect. We invest money in ways that aren’t “pure” so that our kids can have a fighting chance to succeed in this crazy world. Our lives in The Land Office aren’t perfect either.
But we don’t have to wait for the perfect opportunity to create a better world. We’ve heard it said that the health of a community can be measured by how well the group can make a circle. Meeting your neighbors, helping each other, and becoming connected is that start — right where you are.
Just for right now… Let’s imagine that perfect circle coming together on this property and get out the tools to make an attempt at drawing ours.
Extended material and more perks are available for Patrons. Please contact us to start a conversation about how you can support The Land Office of the Imaginal Services Bureaux.
Here are some links to the background material:
Assessor’s Map for 509-132-002:
http://co.humboldt.ca.us/assessor/maps/509-13.pdf
Zillow:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2012-2026-Nelson-Rd-Mckinleyville-CA-95519/2080611905_zpid/
Trulia:
https://www.trulia.com/p/ca/mckinleyville/2012-2026-nelson-rd-mckinleyville-ca-95519–2438226187
Some folks are taking these ideas beyond fantasy…
Where is your favorite intentional community?
Previously was 1711 Central Avenue in McKinleyville, California.