Housing

Communal Living For A Happy And Afordable City Life

Communal living for a happy and afordable city life

As San Francisco’s housing crunch continues, some residents are choosing to forgo traditional apartments and live in intentional, communal living under one roof — echoing the type of housing that emerged during the hippie movement.

Commune is an intentional community of people that live together, share common interests, collaborate on ideas, and often have common values and beliefs, as well as shared resources and responsibilities. A big part of it is the interpersonal dimension – communes offer an escape from the cult of individualism, by connecting you with people to hang out with and grow close and intimate with, in a society where a lot of people lack social connection. Furthermore, there are also a lot of economic benefits.

“I cook once a month and am cooked for the other 29 days of the month,” explained Eric Rogers, a resident at The Red Victorian. “I have this huge building at my disposal. I basically have the biggest house out of anyone I know. And that’s a really nice thing to have in a city that has extremely expensive real estate”.

It is part of a greater international commune network, along with the flagship house The Embassy. Both communities work closely together and have great vision in bringing forth change they want to see in the world.

“I would describe our community as a very creative and diverse group of people that are very interested in improving the world and also changing some of the systemic ways in which the world operates and perpetuates culture,” Rogers said.

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