We are active on a few boards and this is an excellent idea. I really like the format of a smaller group but still accociated with each other. There are so few of us active that it could be worked so that similar people could form their own group based on demographics or location or whatever they choose.

Some of us thought that the rv park would be a good way for those of us currently in towns or cities to be able to invest in a property that we can use immediately if we didn't have the cash to go out and buy land in the foothills or have the ability to completely relocate from work to a new self-sufficient community.

The idea that mountainman suggested somewhere (might be in this thread) was that the rv park would be a source of income for the permanent community to use while still leaving the door open for those of us not able to fully commit to a new way of life. The permanent community would develop as they determined but with neighbours.

The 'campers' would be able to set up caches and maybe mobile habitats that could be converted to true full-season homes if shtf was actually a teotwawki scenario. A place to store seeds, implements, fuel, food, etc... Prior to shtf, it would be a place for people to use for recreation and networking.

I do like the idea of face-painting for kids because such a community does need to know it's neighbours first and foremost. It would not be a place for lone-wolves such as yourself Crier. That is not an insult, just the opinion I've formed by reading your comments and the threads you've started. Each strategy has its strengths and weaknesses that have been discussed ad nauseum in other threads.

Bringing this up at the meeting was just a thought.

The idea is good, just not the idea of an established RV park type setting. There are better ways.

Years ago I hosted my buddies, their wives and kids all on my land. They parked their trailers or RV's permanatly in a circle with a communal fire pit in the middle. Awesome times, great parties and allot of gunfire. It went well for a couple of years then it started to sour. I got sick of picking up beer cans, cleaning fire pits, cutting wood, repairing the scaring up of my trails with 4wheelers... basically doing all the work to upkeep. On good terms I put an end to it and kicked everyone out.

After a year, we all really missed the fellowship and the BBQ contests, so we all got together, bought a 3.2 acre parcel west of Bergen ....divided 6 ways and moved our units on the property. Finally peace, but after 6 years priorities changed. Kids were growing up, different interests and basically life changed for most of us. One by one we all sold out.

My recomendation is to do something similar. Network with folks you trust and go in on a small piece of land in the boonies. Drill a well, put in 45 gallon drum septic systems and share in the work and financials.

Might even work better not connected as close friends. Be cheaper with no restrictions in comparison to a "Pine Lake or Wilderness Village" type set up.

Good luck.

Crier I could see how it would get old fast being the only person committing the required effort to maintain and keep clean a communal site. I think an RV type setting along the lines of Wilderness Village is more along the lines of what was being referred to, minus all the "perks" such as hot tubs and swimming pools etc. If a piece of land could be located and purchased and a long term "lease/rental/co-ownership" agreement could be put in place it could allow people who do not have the finical resources on their own to take part and perhaps see a small "prepper" orientated community spring up.

maybe not an rv park... but what about something like this? (use your imaginations)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIANxLXeoaw&feature=BFa&list=UUSi64g0azbv5ULkDLxMN9tw

also... this guy gets annoying, but it gives you perspective on how the "other side" thinks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1bch3BVgl4&feature=related

I subscribe to southernprepper1, what the second man also fails to mention is that after the first 3 weeks have past many many people will have starved to death that did not prepare, they will be dehydrated if no water source is near them and many will have left the area by that time...after about 3 weeks I would think the people left would be other prepper types...As always I truly hope nothing happens to bring about this situation in the first place...thanks for sharing the videos

I have to disagree brooks. I think that after awhile you would have 3 types of people left. Preppers would be the first. Those who were hard enough, rough enough, and armed enough to take what they needed at the point of a gun would be the second. Third would be anyone who has somehow managed to be resourceful enough to survive. Tough times make tough people, and even the unlikley can surprise. In southern alberta there is plenty of freshwater within walking distance. In calgary alone you have 2 rivers and a resevoir, not to mention all the other tributaries that flow through the farmland surrounding the area. People will be sick, armed camps will carve out chunks of realestate, but eventually everyone will have to clear out of the cities. This is when rural preppers are in danger. People won't just let themselves starve. Especially when they can do something about it, like take your food.

The group mentality is a good one. I will need to give more thought to the idea and weigh the positives and negatives. I hope that the people in this thread are able to come up with something. I am not a position to include myself right now, but any ideas I come up with, or videos I find that may help I will be sure to post.

Buggie I concur that for a small community those are a great idea. I guess what Dang and I and a few others had talked about was something more along the lines of an RV/Small Cabin type community versus the whole big main residence community/subdivision type idea.

Sure I or someone else could buy the property that Marty is listing and spend 800k. I am not really interested on taking on that much debt, as our family has worked very hard at getting out of debt and at this point are just down to our mortgage. Not willing to increase the mortgage either as I think it is wiser to try get it paid off sooner rather than later. So something small, low key, developed with a community seems an interesting option to me.

I feel bad that this forum has kind of been hijacked, and wonder if perhaps this deserves it's own topic as I recall Mountainman seemed interested in more of a Subdivision type community from his posts.

Perhaps those that want to discuss can do a breakaway discussion group tomorrow.

mountaineer, out of curiousity, how many acres was the property in question?

5 acres.

I too am a bit confused as to exactly what is being discussed.
A Self - Sustainable community ???? I don’t think it can be RV , or condo style anything… it is a lifestyle… I do not think you can work for money 40+ hours a week, commute to where ever you need to be to do that, and still have the time, or the energy to be self-sufficient. It takes a lot, actually all of your energy and time, to grow enough food, with a garden, a green house, have livestock, cut & store enough firewood, to hunt, fish, and maintain buildings and supplies to be even close to self-sufficient or sustainable
So you either have ( A) group of people, community of people who want to “bug out together” so that could be RV , or some co-op kind of base camp idea…could be purchased or borrowed from the crown. Or (B) a self-sufficient or self-sustainable community where people live with their families now. This would definitely need to be owned land.
There seems to be a definite interest in both on this forum. The idea of connectivity could certainly contain both kinds of communities.
At this point in my life, personally, I would be more interested in (A) the base camp idea.
But having had the great adventure of raising my 4 children (all adults now) in a very self –sufficient homesteading kind of situation - I would highly recommend it to anyone who is able to do it. Rewarding in every way!

I too am a bit confused as to exactly what is being discussed.

( A) group of people, community of people who want to “bug out together” so that could be RV , or some co-op kind of base camp idea…could be purchased or borrowed from the crown.

thats pretty much what was being discussed. this thread goes off on a few tangents, but if you take the time to read the whole thing, option A pretty much is it in a nuttshell

I too am a bit confused as to exactly what is being discussed.

( A) group of people, community of people who want to “bug out together” so that could be RV , or some co-op kind of base camp idea…could be purchased or borrowed from the crown.

thats pretty much what was being discussed. this thread goes off on a few tangents, but if you take the time to read the whole thing, option A pretty much is it in a nuttshell

A self sustainable community isn't a "temporary bug-out location" such as an RV park for when SHTF, it's a self sustainable community is a community in which we live permanently, raising/growing our own food and commute to the city for work for those who would like to. I've started a new thread to hopefully attract those who are interested in a "temporary RV bug-out location" rather than flooding this thread. When I started this thread, that was not my intentions. I'll write more about my idea for a self sustainable community later. For all those who are interested in a "temporary RV bug-out location", please check-out the new thread for this topic only.

Thanks,
Mountaineer

Mountaineer,

To help move this thread in the direction you want to take it I will offer the following. I know a fellow who subdivides and develops acreages into smaller developments in the Okotoks area. Were you and a group of like minded peers to find the area you want, I could put you in touch with him to discuss the logistics of developing an acreage community. Bring enough people to the table, you could even give him criteria and set him loose. He does all of the civil development and also builds homes although that could be negotiated one way or another depending on your group.

Antsy

Mountaineer,

To help move this thread in the direction you want to take it I will offer the following. I know a fellow who subdivides and develops acreages into smaller developments in the Okotoks area. Were you and a group of like minded peers to find the area you want, I could put you in touch with him to discuss the logistics of developing an acreage community. Bring enough people to the table, you could even give him criteria and set him loose. He does all of the civil development and also builds homes although that could be negotiated one way or another depending on your group.

Antsy

Please PM his information to me. Thanks.

In the past few years, I was at a hunting lodge that had ten cabins, a main lodge. The main lodge also doubled as the dinning and lounging area, and attached to it was the main kitchen. This is one aspect that could sustain a community. Put small mass heater in the cabins and a large ones in the lodge, and you would be set for the winter. A Gasifier, would provide a fuel source for your generator to charge your battery bank, cool your freezer/refrigerator and heat the water for the Saturday night shower/bath, cloth washing. The possibilities are all there, it wouldn’t be posh, but it wouldn’t have to be stone age either.