All six communities display at least some level of separation from the mainstream, both physical and psychological, although to varying degrees. This ranges from physical buffers to a general community sentiment of being a separate entity or existing outside of the mainstream. The most cohesive ranking I am able to establish traces a general feeling of belief and purpose in the community, in which Chaortica, Twin Oaks, and Ganas show the strongest coherence, and Berkeley Cohousing, Arcadia, and Pacifica show the least.
I find that in each community, the distinct separation from mainstream society manifests in different degrees of integration. At all locations, the separation emerges as an alternative to the individualistic, capitalistic design of society—whether or not community members feel comfortable explicitly articulating this. Such an idea echoes Spengler’s conception from the Literature Review that the modern organization of society is destined to fall back into a folk- village scale organization, because humans will seek out more face-to-face interactions than are available in the modern, anonymous cityscape.
The ICs in question, because they desire social separation to one degree or another, often choose to establish physical buffers to separate themselves from the outside world. Overall, the sense of community does not correlate exactly with the degree of psychological separation, nor does the presence of buffers (i.e. Arcadia and Pacifica have more buffers than Ganas, Berkeley Cohousing, or Chaortica, but report a lower sense of community). These physical buffers are also related to the presence of a business model in communities, which can act as an interface with the outside world.
Chaortica in San Francisco exemplifies the embrace of the folk-village scale, and it is the strongest community in terms of community spirit, even as it exhibits the lowest levels of separation (both in physical difficulty in access, but also in participation in the outside world). In terms of observational data, it has the fewest buffers of the six communities—only a driveway and a backyard separate it from the other single family homes in dense San Francisco’s Ashbury Neighborhood (see Figures 17 and 18). Economic separation is also apparent, in that all residents work outside the community. The only relationship it has with outside authorities is with the landlord, with whom they are in agreement to have an undisclosed number of people in the space.
Chaorticans are by far the most explicit about returning to a folk-society. As JS. told me, “humans evolved in tight bands where people all knew each other, in villages. They had a lot of that connection. And then, after we started moving to cities, the main social hub was the church or something like that. Now we've moved past that. It's not really a thing for us anymore. So community ended up being the answer.” Other members echoed this idea of intentional separation from the mainstream. As JL. explained, “people are sometimes surprised to hear the shock value of, ‘I live with 30 people.’ You feel separated from the mainstream with this
paradigm of individuality, like somehow people think living with roommates is childish.” From a perspective of economic integration, Chaortica has no business venture related to the community and all economic activity stems from outside jobs.
On the other hand, Twin Oaks represents the most intense physical separation from the mainstream, and also exhibits a strong return to folk-village separatism. It occupies about 500 acres, surrounded by wooded forest on all sides but the front entrance (which is a several-mile- long driveway) (see Figure 19). It is also located in a town with fewer than 1,600 people, and the nearest establishment is a church about 10 minutes away. Because Twin Oakers eschew car ownership, they voluntarily create a buffer in which it takes effort to leave the community. A car leaves five times a week for Louisa (the nearest town), three times a week for Charlottesville, and once a week for Richmond. Twin Oakers can use some of their monthly allowance of $75 to make these trips, usually in carpool—going by one’s self is $25. Their relationship to the city and wider authorities is also a creative one. By creating a statement of religious purposes, they qualify as a 501d non-profit (the same as extends to monasteries) in which Twin Oakers can pay individual income tax based on their share of the profits in the community for the year.
Left, Figure 17: Street View of Chaortica
Right, Figure 18: Chaortica’s Integration into Ashbury Heights (Sources: Google Earth)
Twin Oakers were very open with me about the intentionality of returning to the village lifestyle. As V. told me, “we operate on a village scale. If you’re in a city, or if you’re living in a single-family or single-person dwelling, just to do any activity with people, it takes a lot of time and energy and resources to get to them. Here, movies, yoga classes, parties, and art gatherings are literally an 8 minute walk or a 2 minute walk.” On the other hand, Twin Oaks also has the most developed outward-facing economic business models of the six. Its businesses in tofu, hammock-making, and seeds require daily interfacing with the outside world and enable its daily function.
Ganas also represents a certain physical and psychological separation from the mainstream, more similar to Twin Oaks than any other community. Although at one point it was spread over 9 houses, it now occupies 7 residences, which includes three on one side of Corson Avenue, two on the other side of the street, and two on Scribner St, attached through the backyard. There are virtually no buffers to the outside world—their houses are as equally distanced from each other as they are from houses that are not part of the community. Because so many members work in Manhattan or other boroughs of New York City, the community intentionally bought houses that were within a 20 minute walk to the Staten Island Ferry (which is then a roughly 30 minute commute to the base of Manhattan to arrive directly at Wall Street)
Right, Figure 19: Aerial View of Twin Oaks
(see Figure 20). The folk-village organization is clear in the community’s organization— members are able to move there and work in the businesses (primarily the coffee shop/bookstore and furniture store) Ganas owns in the community without interacting with outside life. As E. explained to me, their separation from the mainstream has evolved over time. “We wanted it to be more porous, which makes it more difficult to maintain. We were very insular in the past. Because all of our economic needs are taken care of, you can sort of “stay on campus” indefinitely,” he said.
The three cohousing communities also exhibit certain elements of separation, although they are by design less “radical” since they do not disturb the mainstream notion of single-family units.
Berkeley Cohousing is the most communal of the three, and also has physical and psychological buffers. All fourteen residences are sandwiched into a 0.8 acre parcel of land (see Figure 21). Its primary buffer is a fourteen-spot parking lot that faces the street and is also the only place of ingress and egress for residents. The other three sides of the parcel are fenced in, and residents told me that they are not familiar with their neighbors. The community is roughly eighteen blocks away from the major highway (580) and a ten minute drive from the Berkeley North BART station (see Figure 22). As C. told me, the village scale is recreated in the age
Left, Figure 20: Ganas is about 20 minutes’ walk from the Staten Island Ferry
Source: Google Earth
range, which was “birth to 87 in 2019.” However, the lack of economic or physical buffer results in a high level of integration into the mainstream, primarily because it does not have community- based employment. C. elaborated that, “people here mostly work. Some are retirees, some independent folks, some between jobs. The community is just legally its own condo association. And we're just here like any other neighbor or even the city grid, and we’re using city services, paying taxes, property taxes and so on.”
Arcadia has a similar relationship with separation and buffers to Berkeley Cohousing. It is protected by a several-mile long driveway and an outer parking rim. North Greensboro St, which runs through Carrboro, NC, is the nearest point of ingress/egress (see Figure 23). It is also located in a forested area that separates it from other developments. The sense of village-scale came up in many of my conversations with residents. They stated that they enjoy not having, for example, personal driveways— but value their proximity to town, with everyone working
outside of the community and caretakers or home health
aides coming in and out daily. No economic activity
relating to community life takes place, but households
contribute 3 hours of community labor per month.
Left, Figure 21: The Berkeley Cohousing Parcel
Right, Figure 22: Berkeley Cohousing’s location in Berkeley Source: Zillow; Google Earth
Left, Figure 23: Arcadia (red roofs) in relation to N.
Pacifica has similar buffers to Arcadia, which is to be expected since it was designed by the same architect, Giles Blunden. It is located closer to North Greensboro St. than Arcadia, and is not as wooded (see Figure 24). It has a similar outer parking rim, though the houses are closer together than at Arcadia. Pacificans enjoy a highly integrated lifestyle with the mainstream, and connect with the idea of a village scale. As P. discussed with me, “when I go into town, I bike. I can go out and get a drink, meet friends—all that stuff’s accessible.” He also expressed appreciation for the community’s operation in contrast with the mainstream, saying, “one of the things I like about living in cohousing is that it forces you to interact with people you might not normally interact with, and you have to work with them to solve problems. That is an underappreciated skill in modern society.” Although Pacificans complete 4 hours of community labor a month per household, they have the option to pay extra dues to avoid this. No economic activities relating to the community take place.
Left, Figure 24: Aerial View of Pacifica (blue roofs)