Are Ecovillages Impossible? | The back-to-the-land 1970s model ecovillage doesn't work for younger generations. Here's what does

The place operates under a Body Corporate (or similar to a HOA), land is held in common (600 acres plus) and freehold lots make up the rest. You pay into common land management, you can work some back.

The best thing is the gravity fed reticulated water system fed from header tanks all at same altitude across property. It was the first of its kind designed. All houses have firefighting hydrants too. Dams are large and integrated into road surface. A recent project was Fibre to the Home done with a single pass tractor and blown fibre.

The freehold lots should have been put into trust so they don't get bought and resold repeatedly for ever increasing prices. Originally they were $20K, now an empty lot is worth 450K and houses have hit 800K. Some lots have cycled for millions.

Internal roads are expensive to maintain as houses are spread out over ridges, leaving river flats open to agriculture. Could a light rail make sense? A single electric bus? It was the 80's/early 90's, cars have always been front and centre here.

Succession plans. An aged care facility should have been built, now there are people in their 80s rattling around in their houses and their lots go into disrepair. If property was held in trust, new younger owners could move in and with that, the energy to make change. As it is, most are renters and don't give a fuck, and fair enough. No one young can buy in so new owners are always old.

Due to age, and some other factors (young people need money to work), no one volunteers for common land ecological maintenance which means barely anything gets done. Parties for personal enjoyment outnumber working bees by a factor of 100.

It was a back to the land, not really a cooperative business, not many streams for money making that would benefit more than a few. It's just a subdivision in the bush that has a lot of plants planted in the 90s and early 2000s. It's a high mix of exotics but wildlife has returned heavily so successful in that regard considering it was degraded when they started. It's a mostly stunning place that has water needs sorted. There isn't enough money in food production to warrant the planting of food production though small successful business have come and gone in market garden, bamboo, and nurseries.

I did make another reply, did you see it?

Ever increasing transport costs and maintenance, old age succession, internal economy, constant property price speculation as per standard capitalism, landlord class/renter class, drifting ideals once the permaculture buzz wore off, weeds and other degradations.

Beautiful regenerating natural landscape with gently integrated human habitation, rich water resources, social events, diverse exotic useful plants, wildlife, potential.

My understanding is that many of them have charters which have elected board positions, though there are some which are privately owned communities in which that is not the case. Those board meetings and elections tend to face the same engagement and participation challenges as municipal meetings and elections among the age groups best positioned/inclined to make the changes.

Armchair quarterback opinion, since I don't have personal adult experience living in one, but I think it might be doable running with a "remove bs fees" position coupled with "remove petty board members" based on conversations with friends and internet strangers.

Could you elaborate?

Yap I was thinking futuristic with fusion power and vertical farming.

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