Governance models & legal structures
Three legal structures cover most intentional communities: community land trusts, housing cooperatives, and LLCs. Three decision-making models cover most of the rest of the problem: Quaker-style consensus, formal consensus, and sociocracy. None of these are mutually exclusive, and plenty of communities blend them. What you can't do is skip the choice and hope goodwill carries you. Goodwill is exactly what the structure exists to protect.
Legal structures compared
A community land trust permanently removes land from the speculative market. The trust owns the land, governed by a tripartite board of residents, community members, and public representatives; residents own their homes but accept resale restrictions that keep them affordable. It's the most protective structure for long-term stability. Cooperatives are democratic member-owned entities, one share, one vote, an elected board. LLCs offer maximum flexibility and zero built-in governance: an LLC is whatever its operating agreement says, which means the operating agreement has to say everything.
Decision-making models
The Quaker model seeks unity rather than counting votes. A clerk facilitates, the group works toward a 'sense of the meeting,' and anyone can stand aside (let a decision they dislike proceed) or block (stop a decision they believe violates fundamental principles). Formal consensus is the same instinct with more explicit roles and procedure. Sociocracy divides the organization into semi-autonomous circles connected by double-links, with decisions inside each circle made by consent, meaning no paramount objections, rather than full agreement. Consent is faster than consensus and usually good enough; knowing when it isn't is the skill.
Written agreements
Whatever model you pick, write it down, make it specific, and include a procedure for amending it. A vague agreement isn't an agreement; it's a conflict with a delay on it. The usual set: member responsibilities, financial obligations, decision-making process, conflict resolution procedure, membership application and exit process, and land use guidelines. If writing these down feels like it would kill the vibe, that's worth sitting with. The vibe should survive being written down.
Community Experiences
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