The founders of this group live in San Francisco, but we also want to help create backyard neighborhoods in other areas. Some people may just want to share portions of their backyards and nothing else. Others may want to share a few more things, such as tools and outdoor toys, and perhaps share occasional meals outdoors. And some may want to develop into retrofitting cohousing communities with some shared indoor facilities like N Street Cohousing in Davis, California, where fences have gradually been removed from the backyards of 19 houses. Those that focus on permaculture and sustainability might even become urban ecovillages. Families who practice home and community education might be especially interested in sharing backyards and some indoor facilities. Some families may want to pool resources to set up a laboratory or music room, for example, or share other educational resources. And people who don’t have children might want to share their backyards, at certain times, with homeschooling or unschooling co-ops that could use the space. They may also be able to share some indoor space, such as the back of a garage, so that the co-ops could store equipment there and have a place to go to when it rains. If you think you might like to live in a backyard neighborhood or help with beginning or enlarging one, please visit BackyardNeighborhoods.org.
The goal of this group is to connect people in any city or town who want to share all or parts of their backyards to create large, shared spaces, where children can play and learn together spontaneously and neighbors can easily get to know each other, share things, and do things together.
Our online community doesn’t have a formal membership process. What we need most is publicity, so if you like our mission, please consider doing these actions: * Link to BackyardNeighborhoods.org at your website, blog, Facebook page, etc. * Add a link to BackyardNeighborhoods.org as part of the automatic signature on your email messages. * Post comments about Backyard Neighborhoods on relevant websites and blogs. * Send letters about Backyard Neighborhoods to online and paper newspapers, newsletters, magazines, etc. * Keep a few pieces of paper with “BackyardNeighborhoods.org” in your wallet to give to people you meet who have backyards, especially those who have children. They may have an unexpressed craving for an old-fashioned neighborhood where their kids can run out the back door to play with friends in a big meadow or garden with trees and other flowering and fruiting plants, and the adults can watch the children playing while they chat with neighbors on a garden bench.
Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.
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