Joining Tortuga
About Us
We are a collection of people who value having community enough that we have moved from our various homes across the bay area to create our own intentional neighborhood. In addition to valuing highly having our friends as neighbors, we also strongly value individual independence. Hence our community strives for a balance of sharing and freedom.
We value open mindedness and do not subscribe to any common religious or spiritual beliefs. We care about mindfulness, about one's impact on the world as well as on their neighbors. We aim to be responsible financially and with the resources of the community. We also aim to be creative and to create something fun and beautiful with our space. And, we place a high value on communication and willingness to work with the group to find good compromises so that we can all live a fuller life together.
We want this to be the sort of place where if you need something, you can go next door to ask your neighbor for a cup of sugar. Or a chainsaw. Where you see your friends on your way home and decide to have an impromptu board game. Where you can go outside and pick fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden. Where the neighborhood kids know you, and where parents and friends can help each other out. Where we have a great common lounge where people can invite friends and have neighbors stop by.
In summary, we wish to have a community that is a home, not just a collection of neighbors. Where people are fun and responsible, communal and independent.
More details
- Summary: We are a suburban retrofit cohousing[1] community in Mountain View, CA. In November 2006 after 1.5 years of organization, planning, and search, we purchased two adjacent 4-plexes, for a total of eight 2-bedroom apartments. We have 11 adults and 1 toddler, and are still working on landscaping, making common space, social & financial organization. The average age is about 30, and many of us work in the tech industry.
- Each building is legally structured as a Tenancy In Common[2], with its own mortgage and deed. We've torn down the fence between the buildings, and are slowly landscaping the exterior space (all of which we treat as common space). We've converted a pair of garages into a lounge. We meet every two weeks or thereabouts, have parties every few months, and are slowly trying to figure out our policies, bylaws, and that sort of thing. We don't have any strong unifying ideological beliefs, except that we're generally pro-technology and pro-community. Decisions are made by consensus with Condorcet voting if consensus fails.
- We are still working on a legal structure and bylaws to join the two buildings. We currently operate according to our draft documents. The most common things people ask:
- Financials: Most common projects are funded voluntarily, by those who are interested in them. Any required expenses (insurance, taxes, mortgage) are split by equity share of the building. The units have slightly different equities based on how large they are.
- Selling units: The community must approve any new member who buys. Members of the community have right of first refusal to purchase a unit at any price offered to an outside buyer. If a unit is offered for sale for a long time (9 months, I think) and the community does not approve a buyer, then the seller has the right to force the entire building to be sold. Some people find this rule surprising. Our thinking is if that if someone wants out, and no one wants in, and the community can't find anyone who wants in, then perhaps the community should not continue. Also since there are multiple buildings, this clause only applies to one building at a time. We feel it makes people more willing to buy in because they know they can get out if need be.
Available Spaces
- Units for sale: As of November 2009, we have a unit for sale. Contact us if you may be interested.
- Units for rent: We currently have no units for rent. (We rarely have rooms for rent).
- Purchasing nearby buildings. Buildings on the street are sometimes available for sale. If you are interesting in helping expand our community by sharing in the purchase of another building, please contact us (tortuga-core@googlegroups.com).
- Renting on the street. While we have no rental units available in the community, units come up on the street periodically. This is the cheapest option, and it would be up to you how much or little you participate in community activities, shared resources, etc. As of February 2009, there are several such units.
The application process
(note: we are significantly less formal about application for renting on the street, than for living in one of our 2 buildings. The below is mainly for living in our buildings.)
- The first step is to get a tour of the community, and the unit for sale if that is what you are interested in. Email "Dave Jackson" <jesus2dot0-at-gmail-dot-com>,
- If you like what you see, next, you should come to one of our biweekly socials, currently on Thursday evenings, or one of our every-few-months parties. This way you and the community members can meet each other.
- You should continue coming to socials and getting to know the community members until both sides are sure there is (or isn't) a fit.
- Depending on what you are interested in, you would then be kept apprised of rentals on the street, start the loan process for purchasing a unit, join a group attempting to purchase a nearby building, etc.
If you have further questions, please email "Dave Jackson" <jesus2dot0-at-gmail-dot-com>,
;View users: *
;Edit users: *
;View groups: *
;Edit groups: CoreGroupOne
![[Home]](/images/Tortuga-Icon.png){kind=icon}