Decoupling Profit from Community
- Savannah Fishel
- Jul 5
- 5 min read
Much of Western society is grappling with a crisis of disconnection, manifesting in mental ill health and chronic loneliness, alongside escalating housing crises. Generally society treats housing as physical infrastructure: a commodity to be traded, rather than social infrastructure: foundations for building community, connection, and aging well. The nuclear-family homeownership model has not only priced out many people from housing security, but has also left communities isolated and disconnected from their very neighbours.
Intergenerational communal living offers a practical, proven response to these challenges. By intentionally bringing people together, across ages and family structure, housing can play a powerful role in enabling and sustaining organic relationships. In times of need, this social safety net can act as a lifeline.
A recurring criticism is the assumption that intergenerational communities are inherently expensive and exclusionary. “Affordability” exists on a spectrum, and often the classic cohousing model is expensive. But this is just one type of intentional community. Through my exploration of 54 communities, I sought out a broad range of models, many of which are intentionally designed to be accessible for low-income residents or to provide “below-market-rate” security. True inclusivity in these spaces is often built upon specific financial mechanisms that decouple having a roof over your head, and neighbours who care, from the speculative market.
Ownership Stability through Limited-Equity: Santa Rosa Creek Commons
One way to create long-term inclusivity is through limited-equity cooperatives, such as Santa Rosa Creek Commons in California. Here, shareholders collectively own the community rather than individual units. To join, members purchase a share (the "buy-in") at a fraction of the cost of a typical co-housing purchase in the area. Once moved in, residents pay a monthly carrying charge based on square footage to cover operating costs, which is roughly half the local market rate for rent. When a member chooses to leave, they do not sell their unit on the open market for a profit ; instead, their share is transferred back to the cooperative for the next resident, and they receive their initial investment back plus limited interest tied to the Consumer Price Index. This mechanism prevents market-driven price spikes. This financial stability translates indirectly into a vibrant community culture.
Committing long-term to a place, and not being overly preoccupied with property value, creates a fertile home for investing in what I call “neighbourisms”: organic, everyday acts of support, care, and interest, which are often rare in traditional housing blocks, streets, or neighbourhoods. One example of the many 'neighbourisms' which have sprung up at Santa Rosa are travel share schemes; for instance, residents organised 63 car rides for a member undergoing chemotherapy. One resident summed up their culture with the following: “I know if I need something, people are there.”
Urban In-fill and Radical Inclusion: LA Eco-Village
In the heart of Los Angeles, LA Ecovillage (LAEV) has spent over three decades demonstrating an economically and socially sustainable way of living. LAEV was made possible through an 'Ecological Revolving Fund' started in 1985 by its parenting organisation CRSP (now known as the Los Angeles Ecovillage Institute) that enabled property purchases via low interest loans from trusted individuals. Today, a Community Land Trust combined with a limited equity housing cooperative jointly guarantee permanent affordability through a ground-lease arrangement. Very low to moderate income households committed to demonstrating more ecological and sustainable living patterns are the beneficiaries of this legal structure.
LAEV intentionally curates membership to ensure the community remains diverse across five areas: age, ethnicity, gender, household composition, and income level. Residents, ranging from ages 3 to 89, describe the village as a "haven of mutual aid" within an “anonymous city”. This aid includes meal trains for the sick, shared childcare, and a 'freebie table' for food and resource exchange. “One resident recently had a stroke and straight away we started a meal chain… I know that I can rely on anyone.” One resident, who lives in LAEV with two children, moved in after years of battling housing insecurity, including navigating restrictive rules of RV parks in Southern California. She said, “When you come here you’re part of the community. I feel relieved: I have landed.”
An All-Renter Shareholder Approach: Murundaka
For those for whom home ownership remains out of reach, or not preferred, the all-rental model at Murundaka in Victoria, Australia, provides a radical security. Residents are $1 shareholders in a Common Equity Rental Cooperative. Rent is capped at 25 percent of a resident’s gross income, which includes utilities and a weekly shared meal, helping to knit the community together. People with a range of incomes live in Murundaka, and the structure supports even those on very low incomes to embed long-term roots without the fear of being priced out by private landlords.
Mikoto is one resident who emigrated to Australia as a single mother. Struggling financially and feeling isolated in private rentals, she found Murundaka—an affordable home where her son could grow up surrounded by a “squad” of children and a web of caring adults providing a broad range of support, from pastoral, to logistic, to academic. Murundaka’s flexibility allows residents to move between units as their life needs change, downsizing or upsizing while remaining within their social support network.
Mission-Based Housing and the Gift Economy: Canticle Farm
Inclusivity also means reaching those most marginalised by deep societal structures. Housing around 40 residents aged 0-79 in 11 houses in Oakland, California, Canticle Farm functions through a gift economy, relying on donations from residents, as well as external grants, rather than fixed rent. Canticle Farm is working to heal divides—including across race, gender, and class. This community is intentionally diverse in these areas, as well as intergenerational and interspiritual. The community provides a base for both activists and those who have faced systemic discrimination, such as indigenous people and Black men leaving incarceration. One formerly incarcerated resident described the community as a “lifeline,” sharing how he deeply values the profound sense of human connection morning circles and communal dinners bring, after a long time in solitary confinement.
Reimagining Home as a Social and Physical Foundation
The 54 communities I visited demonstrate that when we stop treating housing as a speculative asset, we can begin to treat it as social infrastructure; one of many tools to knit society together, facilitate long-lasting relationships and natural webs of care, and provide an alternative to division and isolation. From equity caps that many cohousing communities put in place, to innovative $1 shares in cooperatives, and a range of other approaches, these models prove that living in a more connected way across generations is not just for the privileged.
While no single model is a perfect blueprint, and context and community priorities will change what is possible across different places, the transition toward intentionally designed, connection-oriented housing has powerful, far-reaching impacts, and can be realised in a broad range of ways. If we are serious about tackling complex challenges such as loneliness, insecure housing, rising care needs, and fragmentation in communities, we must facilitate and fund homes that enable and encourage us to care about each other, not just live in proximity to one another.
During 2024-2025, Savannah Fishel visited 54 intergenerational communal homes across Australia and the US, ranging from eight to more than 200 residents. The output, Beyond the White Picket Fence: A Companion for Intergenerational Communal Living, is available free online, or to purchase in physical form with global shipping at thinkitforward.net/beyond-the-white-picket-fence. At thinkitforward.net you can also find more of Savannah’s work, which interlaces themes of preventative health, social connection, housing, intergenerational practice, and more.