Communities and the Cul-de-sac

"Wouldn't it be great if we could all be neighbor with our best friends? We could come home from work, trade stories over a glass of wine while watching our kids play together?"

This is the vision I tried to sell my college friends after we graduated, because once we scattered to the far-flung corners of the world, or let's face it, once some people moved to the East Bay, it became increasingly difficult to get together on a consistent basis. With every additional child, the logistical coordination burden becomes even more overhead. Which means you see each other a few times a year even though you may leave geographically not that far from one another. 

Living in close proximity would:

• Reduce coordination overhead
• Create happy collisions
• Lower the bar on performance

With Amanhapa* we have the privilege of living with two wonderful friends with whom we share a garden, a garage, a laundry room but also so much more! We have impromptu cocktail hours, dinner parties and long walks with dogs. We get the wonderful intersection of shared friends being able to run into all four of us, our house as a natural meeting point for others coming into town and the real feel of an intentional community being built. 

When we first embarked on this project, folks were fairly skeptical; but I think over the years we've won people over with shared meals in the garden, lively parties and of course generous pours of wine. 

*See hapa residents for full story.