The Worn Path

Manifesto and research project for intentional community. The thesis: don’t build the village — build the conditions where villages emerge. The path forms from the taking, not from the planning.

Key Files

• The Worn Path Overview — Core manifesto and project overview

Course

Course/ — Structured course on intentional community:

• The Worn Path — Crash Course
• Module 1 - The Two Problems/ — The economics problem, the village problem, the inseparability thesis

Philosophy

Philosophy/ — Conceptual foundations:

• The First Step and the Desire Path — Core metaphor
• Lift Where You Stand
• Being a Villager
• Intentional Community Failure Modes
• The Goldilocks Problem of Intentional Community
• Intentional Friendship
• Loneliness Epidemic
• Cooperation as Dominant Strategy
• Relational Accountability
• Restorative Justice, Transformative Justice
• Place Loyalty vs. Place Nostalgia
• Authenticity and Manufactured Culture
• Sacred Pathways, Ritual Without Theology

Concepts

Concepts/ — Key terms and mechanisms:

• Community Land Trust, Limited Equity Housing Cooperative
• Cooperative Blanket Mortgage
• Mutual Aid, Non-Market Housing
• Dunbar’s number, Eudaimonia
• Traditional Neighborhood Development
• The Library Economy, Usufruct
• The Irreducible Minimum

Models

Models/ — Design proposals:

• CLT-LEHC Hybrid
• Wellspring Financing Strategy
• Nested Amenities Model
• Community Philosophy
• Mixed-Use vs Cottage Court
• Relational Accountability

Case Studies

Case Studies/ — Real-world examples:

• Kibbutz, Radish Commune
• Peace Village, Cully Green
• Cottages of Idlewild
• Athletes Village Co-op - Vancouver
• Midtown Housing Coalition

References

References/ — Books, articles, and sources (Alexander, Ostrom, Kropotkin, Putnam, Desmond, and many more)

Maturity

Stage: Pre-formation. The philosophy is substantially developed and the CLT-LEHC financial model is scoped. No legal entity exists, no land has been acquired, and the governance model for how residents actually make decisions together is still largely aspirational. The project is currently evaluating Durham parcels. Everything changes when there’s a physical address.