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When NYC legalized Maryjane, I quickly started growing as many (6) plants that I was allowed to. That’s been a few years now. I’ve since gained a huge appreciation for the ability to control the sources in which I obtain my food as well. My side business is baking and cooking from scratch (we even grow the vanilla pods) and as I’m looking to expand to a more communal experience, I seem to hear all types of comments regarding “building community” and “we are each others keepers”, but it feels like no one in our communities are up for trying something new.

We are two years into building out a space for likeminded folks looking to create and thrive outside of traditional norms, and it feels like the only interested parties are YT people. Nothing against them choosing organic for themselves, but why is ALWAYS ONLY THEM?!

My partner and I have been fighting our way through this capitalist hellscape just trying to stay afloat — literally, since we’re currently transitioning out of liveaboard life. During all of this, I’ve spent a lot of time reading through r/urbancarliving, r/urbancarlivingfemale, r/marriage, and r/intentionalcommunity, and one thing keeps standing out to me: People are lonely. Exhausted. Financially cornered. Families are being forced together out of survival instead of connection, and every time someone talks about starting a community, there’s always a chorus of “broke people shouldn’t start communities.”

My question is: Why The Hell Not!?

Should people do their homework first? Absolutely. Read the fine print. Understand zoning, finances, interpersonal dynamics, legal structures, all of it. But historically, hard times are exactly when people need each other most. Mutual support isn’t a luxury. It’s survival.

I’m a NYC native, and while I’d like to stay relatively close to home, I also want enough distance to build something resilient and less dependent on systems that are becoming increasingly unstable. (While maintaining proximity to NYC job markets and farmers markets.) We’ve found a 30+ acre property under 2 hours from NYC with seller financing under $10k a month.
Our vision is to build an intentional, working community with people who genuinely want to contribute and grow something together over time. The property will be placed in a land trust, with time equity as well as financial ones during assignation of shares. 

-permaculture and bokashi composting
-ranching/farming
-grass-fed and finished cattle
-shared labor and shared responsibility
-collaborative building projects (yurts, tents, tiny homes, skoolies, etc.)

Between us, we have experience with electrical work, desalination systems, and growing food in tiny apartment spaces, which any NYC grower knows is its own kind of survival skill.
We’re not pretending this would be easy. We know community takes work, patience, communication, and structure. We also understand the legal and social realities involved. What we’re looking for are people willing to share the load, bridge knowledge gaps, and genuinely invest themselves in building something sustainable.

The land can eventually be divided among the community, though formal subdivision isn’t currently in place. The intention is shared ownership of both the labor and the financial responsibility. We’re open to discussing both financial equity and work equity, with clear limits and agreements for both.
Most importantly, we want people who actually want to know and care about their neighbors — and who want to build a life where community is more than a buzzword.
If any of this resonates with you, drop a comment and I’ll DM you.

And to the naturally unhappy folks out there: pour yourself a glass of sweet tea and go watch The Boondocks.