What Attracts Young People to Community?

By Dave Bonta, a co-founder of Rah Rah Village

November 22, 2024

Being somewhat older, (nearly in my 70th rotation about the Sun!), it may seem rather preposterous that I would propose such a question with the idea that I might actually know the answer. But, with such hubris as I can muster, (with your indulgence) I will offer some ideas, as this particular question is of paramount importance to Established Communities all across the Country. And probably is of interest to forming ones as well. Lately, one of our group attended the Autumn Vermont Intentional Communities meeting that was held in Champlain Valley Cohousing.

There was a discussion that basically boiled down to "How is it going?" in your particular Community. We have attended three of these gatherings and, besides the breakout sessions and the various topics covered such as "Conflict resolution" and "Governance", there does seem to be one nagging issue that all of the communities are facing. Namely, how to attract younger members into the fold. There is a real reason for concern. Many of the communities are filled with older folks that are "aging out". They may have been the founders, or early adapters, and have lived some time in Community, tweaking the experience and making steady improvements to the situation. It is vital for the Community's existence to have some kind of a "Succession plan", and this kind of problem is coming up on us fast. Very few of the Communities are able to offer low cost rentals, and "Buy in" can be upfront costs of several hundred thousand dollars.

Younger folks, due to the economics of modern day realities may be in debt, with student or credit card payments that preclude them from having any kind of substantial savings. Younger folks also may not be "Ready to root". Let's remember, all you old timers, that making a commitment to a place, and a group of people, and a lifestyle, may not be on your radar when you are in your mid twenties or even thirties. You're out to discover the World, discover yourselves, and may not want to be "tied down", even if the group shares your values. You may enjoy the option, but it is just that....an option, among many other options. You are "Just not sure" and figure you can put it off for a while until you figure out where and what you want to be.

So there are two main issues to consider if we want to see more younger people in our Intentional Communities. First, we have to make it affordable. That may mean that some of us that have a nest egg figure a way to use that to help the folks that don't. (Please see our last month's blog: Bank of Rah Rah) The second issue is, we have to be flexible, in our expectations of the permanence of the would-be communitarians. That means allowing a "Long term relationship" to develop, and being ok with a temporary "Here and away" residency. A lot of that has to do with the financial stability of a Community in the first place. Can it weather the insecurity of transient members? Obviously, we want Rooted, grounded, committed people, young and old to be part of our group, but are we bucking nature when we expect younger folks, still in the search mode to make the kinds of commitments we are looking for? My guess is that we have to try and find that balance, if indeed we want our communities to sustain, and find a way to allow young people to join us.