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Back in the 1960s and 1970s while I was growing up in Oregon, there where lots of communes where we lived in the foothills of the Cascades. These communes were made up of young folks in the late teens and 20s, maybe to their early 30s. To me at the time, it seemed like they focused on alcohol, drugs, and sex, but some of their members "grew out of it" and went on to become part of the establishment working for Hewlett-Packard and other Fortune 500 companies.
Anyway, I was thinking communes for retirees might be something to consider. I think there are some on the East Coast and maybe California, but you do not hear much about them.
You know, get a group of retirees who are still mobile together, pool their resources, and buy a place with land where they could all live and work. And by work I mean preparing meals, gardening, cleaning, etc. I could see myself doing that. It would keep oneself busy and their would be companionship.
It sounds like an interesting idea, but there would have to be a mechanism to transfer ownership when members have to move to assisted living or nursing homes, or die. You would need younger folks coming in to replace them, and they would have to buy in. Perhaps people would be able to buy a "share" and then sell it back to the group when they have to leave, or leave it to the group in their will if they die, to be resold to new members.
The problem I see with this idea is it would attract people without relatives or much money, who know they're going to need a lot of care in the near future. Communes only work when you have more people giving than taking, and plenty of young people to help with a high percentage of the heavier work. Even if you have restrictions, people might bend the truth to get in, figuring it's a cheap way to get expensive care; people like that will take more than they give. Even the residents who have good intentions in the beginning will not be able to do as much as they age. The problem will grow exponentially as the residents age.
I can see the idea working better on a very small scale. A "Golden Girls" type arrangement with just 3-4 people, for example.
There are many ways to structure; Co-op, LLC, Corporation, shared equity...
Many ways to manage,
Many ways to assure continuity / ownership valuation and marketability.
I will REALLY enjoy having someone around to help with the chores and bring their adventures into my life.
(Danish heritage, where MANY folks live in cooperative / community owned housing.)
USA developers claim is works best with Scandinavians. "Hot-dish" pros!
It's a utopian desire & pretty much exists in 2 forms today, broadly speaking. One is in religious/spiritually oriented communities & the other is in the more practical & controllable corporate-driven "over 55 communities". Both have the same issues with power & money but at least the over-55 places have elections & the ability to bow out if not a good fit.
As someone with minor experiences in the early 70's with both hippie & spiritual communities my view is it wasn't what I projected it would be with the promise of dropping out with "free love" & sharing, or the promise of "God's love" & sharing. Both eventually devolved to issues of alphas who needed to control & have loyalty & those who agree to submit to that in areas of their needy lives as the "communities" flourished a bit & then eventually faded.
I think only strict religious & familial communes could flourish because of the defined power structures there.
At least the over-55 retirement communities have a semi-democratic arrived at set of rules that one can agree to or not. Will the Margaritaville retirement communities be "hipper", whatever that is? I suspect not, I think it is just a branding maneuver to differentiate them from the Villages or Del Webb projects.
The idea of communes in the 60's appealed to unattached young people in their early 20's who had never accomplished or saved anything and were seeking an identity and a direction or place in life - (outside of their parents homes,d 'the establishment' ... and the war in Vietnam). It was a romantic notion, but, unsustainable as a longer-term lifestyle. Eventually, almost all of those folks joined the real world - although some simply continued to drift for many years.
Most of today's retirees retired from something. They are now late in their marriages, have accomplished things and established lives. They have worked and saved throughout lengthy careers, built-up savings and assets to sustain themselves throughout retirement. They also have raised children and have grandkids and great-grandkids. IMO, the idea that 'they' would now want to pool their resources and 'run away to join the circus' or 'sail a group boat off into the sunset' is a romantic notion with few, if any, followers. These folks don't even get re-married without a pre-nup, and are unlikely to be interested in pooling their resources with other retirees.
The modern-day version of a commune for retirees is probably a 55+ retirement community, a retirement village -- or an assisted living facility. There, they can have the communal advantages of sharing life with others who have similar interests, but, still live their own lives (with assistance, if necessary).
A similar concept is cohousing. People own their own houses and have community meals several times a week and share some communal spaces. Decisions are usually made by consensus. There are senior-specific co-housing communities.
Communes didn't appeal to me when I was a young adult and they certainly don't appeal to me as a retiree. It's one of those fantasies that provide a real fast reality check when you try it. Kind of like all those people who have romantic notions about moving to Alaska and living off the grid in a small cabin 100 miles from nowhere after they watch one of the dozens of so-called reality shows about Alaska. The expectation and the reality are two totally different things.
All I can think of is a bunch of Grumpy Old Men, living together. Maybe they could make a movie
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