I wanted to poke the bear and see how many preppers would be interested in coming together to create a community where the people involved would share their skills and their ability to survive. The best method of proposing it would be the development of a condo building, or a summer camp of some kind; something where "on the outside", it would look like nothing more than someone selling condos in their new and upcoming development. This would help to make sure the outside world could only look at it as though it was normal, but the actual end game goal was to create a community, the preppers involved would put down-payments on their condos like normal, but the goal would actually be all of us putting our money together.
There's a lot more research involved and I've been working on it for a while, but there is more needed. For instance, I don't know if Ontario allows us to buy the bond on land to effectively make it private land and no longer pay property taxes on it. Otherwise what I've learned is that the best place to hide is in plain sight and that the community would not be off the grid; rather it would be able to produce its own water through rain catchment, atmospheric condensers and wells, electricity through solar cells and magneto drives (possibly even hydrogen engines from the UK if enough money were in place) and food through green houses and proper agriculture.
I'm not sure that this would appeal to enough of you to work on, but I hope it does.
Thoughts and questions?
Welcome Frostfucious !
There are already some of us looking at a similar development. However, the primary commonality is not prepping as such, for its own sake, but the desire to live in community with likeminded folks developing viable alternatives to urbia. In that process it's a natural that preparation of all kinds be done, learned, honed, resulting in a "well-prepared" community. There's a great variety of takes on this topic . Enjoy the journey and discover your resonance.
As much or more work on interpersonal maturity as is done on the learning curve of prep-skills/knowledge is what will be required now and in future.
Love this topic!
The body of law around this subject has evolved considerably since the first condominium was incorporated in Canada in 1967. The most common form of condo is the vertical multi-unit tower, but for preppers, I'd suggest that is not advisable for self-evident reasons.
For preppers, I'd suggest the 'freehold' condominium, which resembles the popular 'gated' communities. Technically, a condominium is a collection of individual home units and common areas along with the land upon which they sit. In the case of a freehold condominium the owner owns the land and building and the corporation owns common shared roadways and amenities.
How to do it: A corporate entity (presumably made up of interested prepper shareholders) undertakes to purchase a piece of land for the purpose of developing a future condominium corporation. Suitable land is purchased and is developed into common areas and private spaces. At this time, the draft condominium bylaws and regulations should be agreed upon, governing the use of individual properties. The non-profit incorporated status is gained from the province and the owners take over, at which time the corporate entity formed for development is dissolved or made inactive, as it has no more responsibility. Governance of the condominium is now in the hands of the owners and the elected board of directors. Individual owners assume title to their condos, which they have an option to sell if need be.
A condominium is like a little village, with its own government, bylaws and taxation (in the form of monthly condominium fees, based on a budget). The fees can be kept low by good planning, such as low-maintenance amenities. Bylaws curb any behavior which may cause distress to neighbors, such as erecting structures which don't compliment the agreed-upon community design plan.
Each prepper has a free hand to build and maintain his home (in accordance with any municipal or provincial laws which apply). The advantage of condominium living could be in snow-plowing, common outdoor lighting or park space, security, and common area maintenance. If you are not tied to an incorporated municipality, you are like your own hamlet.
In theory this should cut out the middleman developer, gaining the prepper a home among like-minded people, while saving on costs. Only one lot of land is purchased and the legal work is streamlined, while each prepper is owner of a detached dwelling which holds his equity.
When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fail, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.
-Edmund Burke, 1729 - 1797
I'd like one of these in southwest ottawa
Want to see the future, past or the unknown? Learn to be psychic. Ask me how!
A good time to invest in spf3000 if you live on the NK penninsula.
Oh November 17, how I fear thee...
@villager - thanks for the welcoming, I've been looking around a lot, but there is a lot more to read
@ottawa613 - I've been reading the condo act along with other acts I thought i needed to, but you seem to be a lot more familiar with this than I am (good); I'm a designer and a face, not a lawyer. I've just been trying to figure out how to best create a prepper community that can (at face value) appear to be like any other community to ensure that we are left alone and not assumed to be "preppers".
@bandit86 - anywhere near ottawa or toronto would be bad, you don't want your community to be anywhere near major cities. Small cities like Brockville (where I'm from) or even smaller than that like Athens and the like is best so that there is better chance of being forgotten.
a condo setup doesn't address the need to grow your own crops and hide them ,
if trying to build a secure unknown place but in plain sight .
a phoney industrial type setup with wire industrial fencing, and no windows facing outside as it would be industrial looking
where the units are joined in a big rectangle where the center of the rectangle is the garden / livestock area,
which would be hidden from the outside , however the area would not be big enough for
all the crops needed to restock or the livestock ? But huge food stocks might be hidden inside
Could have a few in different areas connected by radio .
Counties of Hastings ? Lennox and Addington ? , Frontenac ? Lanark ?
These are away from ottawa, and toronto and if selected somewhat north but south of highway 7 , not so far that
you can't get to a city for restock or medical etc or to just to get there if SHTF
Frontenac has numerous hiking trails and lakes, and might encounter too many people on foot with
backpacks
Anyone seriously interested in starting a condominium community needs a good property lawyer to walk them through the steps.
I foresee a successful attempt starting with one or two motivated people identifying a suitable piece of land. When the preliminaries are in order, they invite a limited number of others to join the group as equal shareholders. Everyone must be financially sound and able to take the leap together.
In a sense, you are buying land in a group purchase.
Each condo owner then builds his dwelling. Make no mistake, this is an enterprise for people with the means to be financially self-sufficient, meeting their obligations of monthly fees and yearly property taxes (hopefully they'll be as low as possible, if much is off-grid). One caveat: being away from cities also means being away from where the money and jobs mostly are. If this is a principle dwelling, as opposed to a 'retreat', one must have a good pension or some other way of remaining solvent.
When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fail, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.
-Edmund Burke, 1729 - 1797
@goldie - a lot can be grown in greenhouses, especially geodesic ones; as for livestock, smaller stock is best for everyone, i.e.: pigs, goats, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, frogs, bees as many of these animals can be kept as pets and can be kept as livestock in smaller groups under hobby farming...or in someone's garage like rabbits for that matter.
@ottawa613 - that is the rub. You can either build the gated community within or just outside of city limits to a smaller city and shore up the defenses like walls and (I hate to say it) training security or they need to built in retirement/retreat format. That being said, if enough money was pooled in the creation, solar globes, hydrogen engines and magneto turbines in high enough number can produce enough electricity to make the community fiscally prosperous. If you are producing enough electricity to sell it back to the grid and you can make enough money from the sale, then the community itself can become a money generating entity...which oddly enough makes it blend in with the world around it even better.
Another idea is to find some suitable compound or industrial building already built,
with land that could be converted into some sort of apartments inside
with everyone contributing to growing outside, chores .
@villager - thanks for the welcoming, I've been looking around a lot, but there is a lot more to read
@ottawa613 - I've been reading the condo act along with other acts I thought i needed to, but you seem to be a lot more familiar with this than I am (good); I'm a designer and a face, not a lawyer. I've just been trying to figure out how to best create a prepper community that can (at face value) appear to be like any other community to ensure that we are left alone and not assumed to be "preppers".
@bandit86 - anywhere near ottawa or toronto would be bad, you don't want your community to be anywhere near major cities. Small cities like Brockville (where I'm from) or even smaller than that like Athens and the like is best so that there is better chance of being forgotten.
You need a community it with doctors and all other amenities. You don't want to die from an absessed tooth. Hiding alone in a hole in the ground is a bad idea. You need mechanics, farmers and other people. And back up people.
Want to see the future, past or the unknown? Learn to be psychic. Ask me how!
A good time to invest in spf3000 if you live on the NK penninsula.
Oh November 17, how I fear thee...
Another idea is to find some suitable compound or industrial building already built,
with land that could be converted into some sort of apartments inside
with everyone contributing to growing outside, chores .
I've been looking into derelict power plants and others that would not be contaminated from previous use, but there are few and far between that haven't been rotted out over time or used for storage of hazardous chemicals and whatnot.
@bandit86: I agree and I have already spoken to 2 veterinarians, 3 auto-mechanics and a retired farmer (the last one being willing to teach vigorously). I any kind of community like this, you need to teach everyone, everything. Better they all know how to do everything they need to do well and one or two things really well.
Another idea is to find some suitable compound or industrial building already built,
with land that could be converted into some sort of apartments inside
with everyone contributing to growing outside, chores .I've been looking into derelict power plants and others that would not be contaminated from previous use, but there are few and far between that haven't been rotted out over time or used for storage of hazardous chemicals and whatnot.
@bandit86: I agree and I have already spoken to 2 veterinarians, 3 auto-mechanics and a retired farmer (the last one being willing to teach vigorously). I any kind of community like this, you need to teach everyone, everything. Better they all know how to do everything they need to do well and one or two things really well.
Decent plan, I'd be happy with a setup like that.
Want to see the future, past or the unknown? Learn to be psychic. Ask me how!
A good time to invest in spf3000 if you live on the NK penninsula.
Oh November 17, how I fear thee...
I agree and I have already spoken to 2 veterinarians, 3 auto-mechanics and a retired farmer (the last one being willing to teach vigorously). I any kind of community like this, you need to teach everyone, everything. Better they all know how to do everything they need to do well and one or two things really well.
Speaking of teaching everyone, everything. I wonder if there should be an encyclopedia created with everything but everything in it.
Sort of like a huge textbook ...
I've looked on Amazon.ca for books, but nothing like a huge encyclopedia. It would need to get to the point on everything, such like a
recipe book does.
Speaking of teaching everyone, everything. I wonder if there should be an encyclopedia created with everything but everything in it.
Sort of like a huge textbook ...I've looked on Amazon.ca for books, but nothing like a huge encyclopedia. It would need to get to the point on everything, such like a
recipe book does.
The Zombie Survival Guide is about the most condensed survival guide I've seen to date, but there is a LOT more than what it packs in that needs to be brought together to make a decent textbook.
amazon.ca has that one, and you can look inside at the index.
I don't see anything in there about livestock, gardening, sewing, emergency first aid,
canning, medicinal herbs, etc etc etc. to name just few topics,
seems to be alot about defence and weapons ?
maybe that is not the correct book ? Zombie Survival Guide