Imagine living among friends where there is always an activity happening on Saturday nights. Imagine knowing your children are playing safely outdoors while you are working in the garden. Imagine living an active, healthy lifestyle where exercise is integrated into your daily life without any extra effort or thought, and your food is fresh and nutritious. Imagine having all of these benefits, and helping save your planet in the process.
This sounds too good to be true, but in Chrissy's Community, it is easily attainable. Why waste your time driving cars, polluting the environment when you could be shedding calories biking around town? Imagine the money you will save on gas and the vitamin D you will soak up from the sunshine. Instead of eating over processed, unnatural foods filled with hidden fats and sugars, you can prepare a delicious, home-cooked meal with the ingredients from your own garden as well as the local farms and gardens at our Farmer's Market every Wednesday and Sunday. The fresh taste and impeccable quality is beyond comparison. And you cold earn an extra buck or two by selling your own excess produce. What mother doesn't dream of having the security that her children playing the old fashioned way outside with their friends are well looked after? Well, in this community, they are. Neighbors have the opportunity to develop strong relationships with each other in the multitude of town activities, and they look out for each others children. There is no more wondering what to do on a Saturday night or Sunday afternoon with the family. One look at the town calendar will provide a host of activities from canning to canoeing depending on the season. Not only do you save money, but the bonding time is priceless. Another way you will save money living in Chrissy's Community is on energy and water. With rain barrels, photovoltaic shingles, and clotheslines at every home, not only will your electricity bill decrease, but you will also be decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. Chrissy's Community is a completely self-sustaining town - why not take a shot at true independence and happiness?
I think I would struggle convincing lazy, selfish people to live in my community - but honestly, they wouldn't want to live there and I wouldn't want them there, anyways. It is designed for people who want to live healthily, help their neighbors, and be active. Also, I am aware of some technical flaws for handicapped people, but as I mentioned in my paper, I would establish either a trolley, golf carts, or some other public transportation to accommodate them. I plan on the community being in a warm-weather environment, so rain would be a concern, but not snow or other things that come with freezing temperatures.
Another visionary who might have struggled in this way is Andy Stanley. Andy is the founder of the North Point Community Church in Georgia. His idea was to create a church attractive to unchurched people. He believes there are enough churches to facilitate the number of people not going to church in America, so the space is not the problem. Instead, he wanted to create a distinctively different environment that would be attractive to them. They don't have "Sunday Schools" because they want to encourage small groups and evangelism, they structure their programs around a foyer, living room, and kitchen model, and they focus on leadership rather than obtaining numbers. Eventually, the church became a booming success. It is a great idea, but it is not traditional, and it is not for everyone. Some people will not grow closer to God in this church environment; they won't identify with this style of worship or feel spiritually nourished. However, it has been life changing for other people. I feel like this is the same with my community - it won't be ideal for some people, but it will change the lives of others in a very good way. I tagged the history of North Point Community Church on Delicious.
http://www.delicious.com/Chrissy.Lairson
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