Intentional Communities: Sustainability & People Together
By: Heather Strang
Five years ago, good friends Eli Spevak and Jim Labbe wanted a new way of living. Tired of living with roommates, they longed for more autonomy, but also craved community. While they weren’t exactly sure how to create this, they decided to purchase an apartment complex in North Portland and convert it into condominiums. As the project moved forward, they realized they could set aside one of the condominiums as a shared space. Suddenly, the two were in the midst of creating an intentional community – via co-housing – without even knowing it.
“Our motivation was to have independence while maintaining community,” says Spevak. “That way we could still have impromptu fun with our neighbors and always come home knowing someone would be around. We wanted to find a way for people to live comfortably and happily in small spaces while having an improved environmental impact.”
Utilizing a passion for sustainable living and community, the duo created what is now Peninsula Park Commons: a nine-unit eco-friendly co-housing community, complete with a bike barn, wireless Internet, a guest room, laundry facilities and an organic garden with apple trees, Swiss chard and the like. Each unit was retrofitted with a variety of sustainable materials and contains in-floor radiant heat, tankless water heaters and rooftop solar thermal systems.
This accidental intentional community became so successful that Spevak started his own company, Orange Splot LLC, developing community-based, green housing projects throughout the Portland metro area. Spevak isn’t the only one; intentional communities are on the rise. Oregon has 40 such communities with many more forming. Portland is home to nine developments, several of them similar to Peninsula Park, featuring that which is referred to as an ecovillage or co-housing format.
Intentional communities gained popularity in the 1960s and often involved a communal approach with residents living off the land and in one structure. Today, intentional communities similar to those from the 60s still exist, but they also include co-housing options like Peninsula Park and intentional communities with a specific spiritual practice.
The co-housing concept came to the United States from Denmark in the late 1980s.
Cohousing.org lists more than 200 such communities either in existence or being formed throughout the U.S. With co-housing, individuals own a condominium and have amenities and access to shared space. They pay homeowners association dues, similar to a traditional condominium complex. Sometimes meals are included and community events are typically held on a semi-regular basis. In general, members of a co-housing intentional community share a passion for sustainability and lessening their individual environmental impact.
Shared living opportunities like these allow individuals to create strong community bonds while consuming fewer resources through a shared lifestyle approach. Not only do members of intentional communities consume less because they share everything from cars to bikes to televisions and other amenities, they also almost exclusively follow sustainable practices with on-site gardens, construction using natural and re-used materials, solar panels, formaldehyde-free insulation and more.
Daybreak Cohousing is the newest co-housing intentional community in Portland. With 30 units, Daybreak is a multigenerational community with members ranging in age from 2 months to 70 years. Equipped with a common house featuring a commercial-grade kitchen, library, cafe, bike garage, spiritual space, laundry and storage facilities, Daybreak Cohousing is the grandmaster of ecovillage developments.
There’s even a rooftop terrace with a hot tub and garden beds. As with most intentional communities, Daybreak has a strong focus on sustainability. Each unit was built from top-notch sustainable construction materials, and the community composts, offers gardens and encourages biking over driving. Daybreak’s mission is to provide both independence and community in an ecologically friendly manner.
“The biggest benefit [of co-housing] is the opportunity to have the best of both worlds – own a private home and have access to an extended family of sorts, right outside your front door,” says Terri Huggett, founding member of Daybreak Cohousing.
Some intentional communities take things a step further, like Portland-based Touching Earth Sangha, led by Satya Va Yu, an ordained Buddhist monk. This small community, located in a Southeast Portland home, consists of a group that practices Zen Buddhism. It combines spiritual practice with social activism. Members do not work for income, but rather spend their days in meditation and working as volunteers in the community, providing food for others through Food Not Bombs and other charitable organizations. Housing is typically donated or a work-for-rent agreement is created.
“Everyone wants to live in a way that involves sharing and is caring,” says Va Yu. “Our vision is to bring spiritual practice and activism together in a way that can contribute to creating joy in the world. As spiritual practitioners, we have an obligation to be models of how simply one can live”
While Va Yu knows his community isn’t for everyone, it is for those who want to live more simply while having a positive impact on the world. Touching Earth Sangha supports environmental issues in conjunction with organizations such as 350.org and Climate Justice Fast! All members live without cars, Internet or earned income.
“The importance of intentional communities is simple living, using fewer resources and sharing the abundance of free food that is out there. This type of living is best when done together within the community, as it makes it so much easier to have an impact,” says Va Yu.
Proponents of intentional communities tout the power of community and sustainability to make a difference in our ecological footprint and happiness. And although intentional communities offer a tremendous benefits for both community-minded individuals and for the environment, there’s also one major drawback – personality conflicts.
“Communication is the most important and biggest challenge,” says Huggett.
Daybreak has a conflict-resolution process that encourages members to meet one-on-one to address concerns. If the issue cannot be resolved individually, they can informally reach out to one or more of the several skilled members who work in mediation and conflict resolution.
“We’ll help support members in resolving conflict, but we won’t do it for them,” says Huggett.
Spevak agrees, noting that while Peninsula Park went approximately three years without any issues, conflicts have happened before. When necessary, the group brings in a mediation specialist.
“You can’t gloss over it. Personality conflicts will arise. To be part of an intentional community you have to have the life skills to deal with issues that come up, like non-violent communication,” says Spevak.
The Touching Earth community also has a process for managing conflict, although Va Yu states it happens rarely because the community is focused on letting go of self-centered practices and living in the moment. Regular consistent meetings – a short daily meeting and a longer weekly meeting – also help to keep resentments from building.
“When folks are feeling resentment they are encouraged to open up about it in our frequent meetings, with the emphasis – from our practice tradition – on seeing our difficulties as our own issues. Generally we see negativity towards others as discomfort with ourselves projected onto those who remind us of our weak spots,” says Va Yu.
If issues occur, members can talk about it during meetings, deal with it one-on-one or reach out to Va Yu for conflict resolution. Despite the downside of personality conflicts, members of intentional communities believe the benefits far outweigh any negatives.
Carrie Folz has lived at Peninsula Park for five years with her husband and two children. “There are so many good things to glean from others – whether it’s knowledge or recipes. It stretches my outlook on life in so many ways.”
This shared experience manifests in a variety of aspects, depending on the community. Peninsula Park’s 21 members get together for work parties to maintain the grounds and gardens, mommies group meetings, dance and donut parties – aptly titled “Celebrate Your Booty” – and an annual ice cream social. They recently created the Whisper Lounge in a newly refurbished attic space and have a “Can’t Rollover Yet” party in the works for new parents, including invites to surrounding neighbors. In addition, monthly meetings, held to discuss matters of business, typically involve a potluck.
“It’s a great, low-impact way to live and it’s fun! People seem to really love community housing,” says Spevak.
At Daybreak Cohousing they’ve set up shared meals as a way to bring members together. Teams are created and assigned a day to cover the three meals offered per week. The community hopes to eventually offer five meals per week.
“While the meals are not a required part of our community, we will make the meals available, again offering another way for people to live more sustainably by sharing resources and doing so in a community setting,” says Huggett.
At Touching Earth Sangha, they offer donation-only based meditations in Laurelhurst park every Sunday at 3 p.m. and host seven-day retreats. These are open to anyone in the city on a donation-only basis.
While Portland already has a strong community focus, intentional communities can allow individuals to have a more profound, collective impact on the environment and on each other. If recent trends are any indication, Portland may see an increase in the development of these communities.
“Intentional communities are working well in Portland because people are feeling more empowered about their housing options. People can create communities like this pretty easily here because it’s a fairly progressive city,” says Spevak.
Heather Strang is the author of the book, Anatomy of the Heart: Love Poems, and is
a freelance writer. Visit HeatherStrang.com.
