Then we would have to hold more ethnic festivals, for Evangelization purposes of course.

I have a friend of mine that contacted me about some acreage in Charlottesville, VA - in the Blue Ridge Mountains. His family owns it and they have discussed creating some type of community out there...

And it's gorgeous.

And we can put Father Deacon Randall's log church in the center on top of one of the rolling hills!

I still carry the dream of such a village in my mind's eye.

Gordo

But does this propert have a Lake?
We must keep our Monastics very happy. The Holy Monks and Nuns are our True best friends other than God, the Saints, and the Holy Angels. Father Elias must be kept Happy! Also with Father Elias around, we will need lots of water to quench the flaming chariot. We don't want our Log Church to burn down! (And we need a place to fish. )

Just wanted to ask for a brief explaination of this village. I think I have a general idea from the posts, but just wanted to hear from someone who knew more about it. Sounds interesting!!!

Of general interest to us in the diaspora, there is a man in Vancouver, BC who supplies videos of his visits to Ukraina, Slovakia, Carpathian Region. You may contact his (I've his permission)@

Hello, a man in Vancouver,BC has videos of the homeland of Rusyns/Karpatskiy/Lemko/Hutsul/Ukraina, of which I have his collection (7), contact Mir Huculak Tel. 604.331.2505 or Fax. 604.331.2515. mik +

I know I keep saying I'm taking a break, but I ran across this and thought it would be of interest to our Byz Cath Villagers....

http://www.taemag.com/issues/issueID.183/toc.asp

If you have a chnace, you might pick up the latest "the American Enterprise" journal. The main articles is on how faith creates society. They profile some of the families out of Catholic village movement and also offer an interesting discussion on the mega-church movemeent and its ties to creating the sense of a "village" (or for some with 10,000 members, a small town!

Anyway, thought some of you might find this interesting...

Back to the "capstone cave"!

Gordo

My husband and I were discussing yet again our desire to live in community with others. What would it take to move from dream to reality? We follow the co-housing movement and see much promise in it. (Also called "Intentional Communities" I believe, especially when the property is privately owned by the individuals.) Some just buy out a block of a neighborhood. Some develop on new land. An internet search provides a myriad of examples of communities in the making. It appears to me that 7 years is a good working timeframe to expect things to come together by my observations. In that time, a governing body of some sort is usually decided on, decisions for land and ownership made, etc etc etc. Simultaneously, community is usually built with get-togethers (on the property when possible), a forum, and more. With so many people interested, why could that not be us doing it as well?

I may have mentioned this before, but I think the main problem would be deciding on where to have the community.

I mean, my wife and I can't even decide on where to live. I'm all about living in the country, and she's all about the city! I'm not saying it's not possible to all agree on a place, just going to take a lot of prayer I would think.

It was this thinking that led to the poll I posted on where people think such a ByzVillage would be.

The majority chose Ohio or Pennsylvania.

I don't know. Maybe the first step would be to find out who the serious players are in such an idea. Gather who is serious, and then have a meeting.

Just at thought.

In my case, I'm seriously interested, but I would have to get my self in a better financial situation before the move, but I could probably do that in the next two or three years.

I saw you reference it before but never did see your thread. I'm sorry Nathan. Would you rather I take this over there? I would think three things would be the highest determining factors: price and availability, proximity to adequate resources, and state laws that are of particular interest. That should limit us quite a lot.

How are Ohio and Pennsylvania laws regarding homeschooling, abortion, marriage and divorce, and other family related issues? Then how do they compare in the cost of living index? Lastly, is there a suitable location that provides room for the community, proximity to business (so people can have jobs), and other everyday living needs?

********
Pennsylvania is one of the top five worst states to homeschool in. In the Good, Fair, Poor, Bad categories, Ohio is "Poor." Maybe in light of the state laws that we will be affected by the most, a new list should be considered?

Good: AK, ID, TX, OK, MO, IL, IN, MI, CT, NJ (and Guam and Puerto Rico)

Fair: CA, NV, AZ, NM, UT, WY, MT, NE, KS, WI, MS, AL, KY, DE, DC (and the Virgin Islands)

Poor: HI, WA, OR, CO, SD, MN, IA, AR, LA, TN, FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, WV, OH, MD, NH, ME (and Northern Mariana Islans and Northern Samoa)

Bad: ND, VT, RI, MA, NY, PA

A list of the best and worst extends the bad category to Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia.
********

I'll see what I can cross-reference for the good and fair states regarding cost of living, state law, etc. I'll also try to find your thread to see why Pennsylvania and Ohio made the short list to see what others considered important factors.

Once again I vote for Missouri! There's plenty of land and we're pretty conservative on most of our laws as well! Also there are plenty of hills and trees to build around. It really is a beautiful area here!

Hmmm...that's too bad about the home schooling. I currently live in MN, but my child isn't old enough for formal home schooling yet!

I'm up for pretty much anything. I would just need something affordable, and I think we'd all (except for those with internet based jobs, or are retired) need some for of employment.

I'm currently a part-time auctioneer, so I would be interested in continuing that.

In my dream world the place would be:

1.) Cheap
2.) Not just farmland, but forest areas as well, for hunting, firewood, and natural beauty.
3.) A river, lake, or pond would be nice.
4.) Pasture, maybe community owned, maybe not.
5.) Less than 3 hours away from a major metro area (for occasional jobs, and airport access)

How realistic that all is...don't know. Just some things I thought of off the top of my head.

If you're really interested I would talk to Diak. I think he's thought about this more than the rest of us and has some great ideas.

Nathan

I'm going to go over to the other thread since it is so much shorter and is specifically about location. I don't want to keep posting in two places.

Dr. Eric, if you don't mind, I'll ask you to post more about Missouri. Do you know or can you find out the approximate price of land, prominent industry, and other such tidbits? I hope to see you there!

If anyone is really serious, my neighbor Rita is moving. Since her husband passed, country life is just too hard for her. She will be selling their small brick ranch, about 2000 sg feet on 5 acres surrounded on all sides by my farm, Novie Ladimirova. Ground has been broken for a chapel, and here is your chance to start a real village!

Oh, and if you are a single, attractive, blond haired blue eyed Russian Orthodox female, under 35, never married and over 5'10"", I may just buy it for you!

Alexandr

Alexandr,
I believe there are websites that have just what you're looking for. That's how my uncle got his new wife.