Hi all, if you're reading this, thank you. I still need to sit down with the rest of my nuclear group and hammer out exactly what we are looking for, but myself, my partner, and my mother are currently looking for housing together in the #boston area. So ideally, a minimum of two rooms. We'd love the idea of living in community with other folks, but all the places we are aware of seem to not be set up to accept people who, frankly, don't make a lot of money. It's very likely we do not know where to look, though, and that is one of many areas I am seeking guidance.

Throwing hard requirements up first:

Our biggest hurdle is my partner works hybrid remote and NEEDS to be within carless commuting distance of the Boston core. Ideally we'd like to keep their commute under an hour.

My mother works remote and will need a good, calm place to set up her desk.

I'm... a fuckup without a career who's a big ol' "bikes as transit solutions" nerd, so ideally there's a chill, not bro-ey #bikeshop nearby I can work at.

Indoor bike storage. We are building up a fleet. Maybe we'll do something cool with them someday.

We are all crafters, so having space to work is pretty crucial. I tend to work with messy things that people don't want in their living space (electronics, bikes, woodworking/puttering), so a basement or shed I can set up a workbench in would be ideal. My partner is a very gifted seamstress and would need permanent space devoted to her sewing machine and cutting station. My mother mostly knits, and is fairly compact in this regard.

A good kitchen is a huuuuge plus.

Good local community that takes care of each other (or at least a solid chance that we can dig in and help build that community)

Nice things to have:

Green space, especially for a potential garden.

Good sunlight for our existing houseplants.

Pet friendly. We'd love animals some day, sooner rather than later.

Accessible nature, especially by bike or by foot.

room for a chest freezer so we can start building a stash of food, for emergencies or lazy nights, IDGAF.

Good people. Maybe you?

Why you want to live in community with us:

First and foremost...

The world is hard. Home shouldn't be. We want to help build a space that supports our community, especially those we live with day in and day out. We want to support everyone in being able to pursue our goals as individuals and a collective, and live a life that supports our values and pursuits.

Figuring out those values should obviously be a community effort, but if I had to establish a good starting point: developing a sustainable lifestyle, mutual aid, community involvement, and personal and collective development.

Our domestic skills are pretty good by today's standards, especially in the kitchen. My mother and I are both accomplished home cooks, with different arenas. I'm good at big projects that take time but can feed a crowd. She's good at being flexible and improvising with what's available. We'd like to live with folks we can share a meal with more than occasionally. Sit down, talk about our day, and connect. We are also good about keeping common spaces clean and tidy, and would like to develop systems of accountability that help keep us all on track taking care of the space while still letting us have most of our time for our pursuits.

We are trying to build a better world. We firmly think a big part of that is little "r" revolution, live life how you think it should be lived after we've won, don't wait for it. Once we've established ourselves we want to do what we can to connect with others and build networks of support for each other. In short, we want to live and take care of each other like good neighbors. Like anarchists.

That all maybe sounds super serious. Mostly we just want to be able to carve out leisure time for everyone so we all can have fun.

420 and psychedelic friendly, queer/poly/kink friendly, damn near any kind of pet friendly... my partner is allergic to cats but loves them dearly... it's ideally something she should be able to get some separation from if it comes into play. She's lived with them in the past. Anything else though is fair game! Reptiles, rats, fish... bees? We don't judge.

Covid consciousness... We all still mask. We try to keep our risks minimal, but we still go to the occasional show. We communicate about potential exposures and test when we think we've been put at risk. We're trying to do our best to take care of each other and still enjoy culture, but if we end up living with some one with a higher risk factor we would modify our behavior to reflect the new situation.

We currently have two cars, though one of us is hoping to sell theirs soon.

We also have a growing fleet of bikes. Good indoor storage is important!

Please recommend better hashtags to help me get this out there!
#somerville #somervillehousing #somervillema #bostonhousing
#housing #housinghelp
#intentionalcommunity #solarpunk #sustainableliving #anticonsumption #fuckcars