Is a AS Community possible?

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Following up on a related discussion, I noticed that there appears to be some disagreement on the possibility of an AS community. One is that such a community is possible (which is my view), and then there is opposition to the possibility based on several points, social incompatability and finances being the leading two objections.

I wanted to create a thread to discuss a) If a community could be constructed, and b) discuss objections to the concept. I am aware that some hold strong objections to the concept of an AS community, and that is an arguement that is personal to each individual. I doubt there is much that I could write that would change any objections to the concept itself.

I thought I would start out with a few pro ideas, and one con (with response).

Pros:

1. Since 2007, global real estate prices, both in real and current terms, have dropped, in some US areas more than 50 percent. Since land is the first "big-ticket" cost, this reduces the size of the first hurdle to meet to establish an AS community.

2. There is now the technology and social media base to support such a community. Supporters can fundraise accross the world, and teleservices have never been easier. A speech at an AS community can be worldwide in the time it takes to make a sandwich.

3. Key services are less expensive. The services of skilled labor and professional assistance, both required in most jurisdictions to construct a property, are cheaper due to the recession.

Cons:

1. An AS community has never started.

Well, better to be the first failure

Any thoughts?

I have been planning to start a town for a while now. Even have a name, list of businesses, etc. - just working on location.

A land for an Autistic-run retreat center has already been bought, in New Mexico:
http://ianology.wordpress.com/2012/01/2 ... e-cristos/

The land's owner is an aspie engineer who frequents both WrongPlanet and Autreat.
His blog is here: http://ianology.wordpress.com/

If you are interested in helping him build this community, feel free to contact him.

Sounds cool. Now we will need somebody to remind the guy Aspies to take baths and brush teeth etc. The person in charge could hire a few mean old grandmas to handle that task. Just trying to cover all the bases here..lol.

So ... how are you all going to finance these dreams?

Step 1: Take over the world
Step 0: Finish College

You know, the pretty typical plan of the average human. (Seriously though, it will just take a lot of initiative and jumping at opportunities. Nothing is impossible. And if we have enough crazy people with a passion for doing something, anything is possible)

KenG, thank you for that information, I had been unaware of Ian's work until now, I will look into that.

Fnord, I am all too well aware of the finance issue. I also think that issue is shrinking as time goes on, for the reasons mentioned in my OP. I am interested to know if you see other issues that would preclude the creation and operation of an aspie community.

Karminari, I don't believe that "Take over the world" is a viable finance method. Of course, I do encourage you to finish college.

We kindly keeps us posted when this thing gets off the ground. I'm thinking if the AS city was located near some type of technical area all of the residents could have jobs and come back in the afternoon like yups..up until they decide to do the task on premise. Everybody tithe 10% would fund the entire operation with cash to spare. We would of course need to have an Aspie book keeper to make sure things balances. I really like the sound of this. Smart thinking.

Yes - I do believe that this is a good idea and have a few suggestions as to a good starting place.

1. Michigan - this state and states close to it have seen a fall off of auto building - that has been going on for more than 20 years now. many cities and towns in this area have empty buildings that can be had cheaply. A lot of places in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois or even Ohio will be happy to see new people moving in. The down side of this area is that the longer buildings are empty the more work required to make them useful again and this part of the US has cold winters - so someone building up a community must get their act together quickly.

2. Nevada -- this state was especially hard hit when the recession hit - Party towns always hurt when the money stops flowing - Some parts of Las Vegas are near ghost town status (I have heard of people getting land and buildings there for just paying the outstanding taxes). The down side here is that as I said party towns always hurt during economic down turns.

3. Central Florida - The shut down of manned space flight has caused a population crash in several town in this area.

In reality it is quite possible for a community to start any where. It could be as simple as finding an old building or two in almost any city center or a farm or ranch -- for that matter why not start building several communities after all - if general estimates of our numbers are some where near right - there are more that 3 million Asperger's and HFA in the US alone - more if we are accepting everyone on the spectrum!

One place to start is a forum specifically for those of us interested in doing this can come together and start working toward this. I have started to work on building up a meeting group locally. I have spent a little time looking for such a group locally - none local so I guess I will have to start my own - from there I may be able to move on to pulling together a small community.

MrPickles, the MI-OH area has definite advantages, but as you pointed out, the winters are an issue. Lack of jobs is another issue, particuarly in Michigan.

For various reasons, I would put Nevada on the back burner. The biggest problem there is the fact that the state is tied heavily to one industry, and that industry is not doing well. Properties are cheap in the Clark County area, but those properties really don't have the access to inexpensive transportation or community ties that would be prefered.

My understanding (and someone down there should confirm) is that Florida has historically had a less than ideal regulatory structure for individuals with AS. Can someone confirm one way or the other?

Hmm, renovating an old factory and turning it into a dozen or so private apartments with communal areas sounds like it ought to be relatively simple, at least compared to setting up from scratch on a piece of land - you'll already be connected into the grid, and you'll be near useful amenities. A group of 20 or so sufficiently motivated people could do this and quite possibly not have to go into debt to do so. Say that each place has it's own bedroom, shower-toilet room, and kitchen, with a communal living area and library (got to have a library).

I really think this could work.

Isn't anyone else concerned that this idea is brought up by AgentPALPATINE???

Okay, all joking aside, if it were at all possible (and I don't believe it is), you might want to steer clear of hurricane-prone areas. Perhaps somewhere that's landlocked with a mild climate. Michigan would not be a good choice.

Personally, I am fond of the idea of a colony or kibbutz, where the jobs ARE the community and everyone has their part.

Why do you consider it not possible?

Magneto, I'm not sure who you are directing your question. With the exception of one question about the financial issues with such a proposal, I'm not seeing anyone writing that they do not believe a project could work.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...
There are so many reasons why I don't believe it to be possible. The main one being the financial aspect. The OP brought up some good examples of how one might raise the money, but to be blatantly honest I don't believe that the world cares enough to put their hard-earned (and many times, quite limited) finances for a group of autistic people to have their own community.

Unless you had a group of independently wealthy people involved (who had a personal tie to the making of an AS community, it's not financially viable, and without financial backing, the idea is destined to fail.

Then let's say that one was able to scrounge up the money to make it financially possible, you have to have a way of making said community financially stable. There will be land taxes to be paid, utilities, maintenance, etc. and even if everyone involved has promised to foot their part of the bills, that would mean everyone would have to have a continued source of income.

The ONLY way I can imagine this being even remotely possible is to have, like I said, independently wealthy backers with an emotional tie to the disorder and if the community was self-sustaining (eg. A colony)

I believe that we are looking at 3 (major) seperate issues here. Initial location/construction, maintaince, and employment. There are more other issues than I can count, but those are the big 3.

The initial construction might actually end up being the least complicated portion of the entire project. Find a phyiscal location, and use it. Of course, it's much much much more complicated than that in practice. Just to use an example, you could find a vacant parcel of land with sufficient size in the US Northeast for $2,000/acre (I hav'nt confirmed that number lately), but without extensive utilities. Of course, you'd have to finance that either with debt (mortgage) or equity (money up front). However, such a choice would seriously limit your flexability (and increase costs) for the construction, and probably knock problem 3, employement, out of serious contention.

On another example, you could aquire a small building in an urbanized area, which would make the employement issue much easier. The problem is that you would have to commit a large amount of resources for expansion. You also run into the NIMBY issue, where I can be fairly confident that the future neighbors will mount an effort to block what they wil see as a "group home". The legal bills could be more than the building/land.

I've long believed (through others probably disagree with me) that it won't be the community that comes first, it will be businesses (demand for labor) first, followed very quickly by a community, followed by a demand for services, etc. etc.