“Some of the things we like are: permaculture, living sustainably, gardening, dancing, hula hooping, yoga, herbalism, making music, active listening, non-violent communication …”

So begins an ad for housemates, as described in yesterday’s New York Times.

This is a terrific little piece about how young people in cities aren’t just searching for housemates–instead, they are consciously constructing intentional communities built around shareable lifestyles:

The impetus for the group home or collective they hope to form is less about finances — though it is true that pooling resources yields better real estate — and more about community building. Indeed, Ms. Berger and others seem to share the ideals of the old-fashioned communes of yore, except that their groups are tiny, urban-centric and linked to outside interests like fixing bikes or, here in New York City, membership in the Park Slope food co-op. And like communes, many collectives give themselves names: The House of Tiny Egos (a name that’s decidedly more evocative than, say, Findhorn, that of the hoary Scottish commune) is a five-person collective in a century-old brick bungalow in Bed-Stuy. Not only do they aim to remain of the world, they hope for a convenient location, one that’s near all the major subway stops.

One tidbit from the article: the Fellowship for Intentional Community‘s database of intentional communities has more than doubled, from 614 in 2005 to 1,300 this year.