With my family, I once lived in a community of about 40 relatively
small houses about which the following was true. 1. The houses could
not be sold, but could be inherited or given away for free; 2. The
exterior dimensions of the houses could not be substantially enlarged;
3. Many residents devoted time to making their landscaping around
their houses either naturally abundant or beautiful or both; 4. The
community was in an area of great natural beauty (in this case, a
beach); 5. The community was only about a 10 minute drive from other
more populated areas, but mostly due to having a dirt road leading to
it and for geographical reasons it seemed fairly isolated; 6. Most
houses had been in place for over 40 years, and some for over 70; 7.
Most families knew all the other families, by seeing them year after
year, and through somewhat spontaneous group events; 8. Some houses
were lived in year round, others were only occupied in the best season
for that area (summer); 9. The residents were generally quite
educated, often artistically inclined, yet didn?t hesitate to adapt to
innovations like the Internet; 10. A very real sense of community
developed both through positive forces (like group parties) and
negative ones (battles over 20+ years by the residents to keep the
government from appropriating the land). The legal battle was
ultimately lost, the residents were all evicted, the community is
extinct and all its residents have scattered to other corners of the
earth.

My question is: can you name 5 or more communities anywhere in the
world sharing most if not all of these 10 traits? The most important
traits are likely to be (1) the inability for speculators or heirs to profit by
selling ?prime? real estate, (2) the proximity to an area of great
natural beauty, (3) a relatively educated and/or artistic group of
residents, and (4) the sense of community that can develop in this
situation, including the notion that the area and houses were being
kept beautiful for the sake of future generations.

whynotnow,
If its ok with you I try to add one for the next 5 days (RESERCHERS &
OTHER COMMENTORS FEEL FREE TO ASSIST).

?Christiania? in Copenhagen, Denmark

Links:
http://www.christiania.org (unfortunately in Danish)
http://christiania.org/tale1/ (English translation of history/goals etc)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_State_of_Christiania

Articles:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/10/31/MNG149JJ0L1.DTL
http://groups.google.com.au/groups?q=Christiania&hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&selm=ajkih7%24172j%241%40pencil.math.missouri.edu&rnum=7

Kind regards,
gfmaster

We have a community here that fits many if not most of your criteria. 
The people who started it did extensive research on other similar
communities and I'm sure they could help you locate others if you
emailed them.  It's a wonderful idea and it has helped so many people
here, it's beyond measure.  Good luck!

ts

sorry, here's the link:

http://www.opalclt.org/

Timespacette.....

You live in a wonderful place! I went everywhere on the site you posted.
It sounds like heaven to me to be able to live in such a beautiful
place with caring and loving neighbours.

Are you in any of the stories?

Have a happy and healthy New Year,

Steph53

whynotnow,
In researching the post for today a resource has been found that
greatly assists in locating communities, conforming to your questions
criteria. In effect it is a database that provides summary information
of many such communities (listings available alphabetically or
geographically) with direct links to individual websites (where
available). See here:
http://directory.ic.org/

As this tool allows you to access a greater number of communities than
required by your question, I will cease further research unless you
are dissatisfied with the site provided.

Final entry:
?Svanholm? on the island of Skibby, Denmark (55km from Copenhagen)

Links:
http://www.svanholm.dk/kol/english/index.htm
http://www.ecomap.dk/uk/kort_svanholm.php
Articles:
http://www.mst.dk/project/NyViden/2001/11040000.htm

Kind regards,
gfmaster

hi Steph!

I don't live in this particular community, but many friends do . . .
we have a disappearing middle economic class here on Orcas and the
OPAL land trust has allowed scores of families to be able to stay
living on the island. I wish this concept would catch on in places
like California, where you now have to be a millionaire to buy a
modest home.  We ex-Californians here in WA always say we're in
'economic exile'...

thanks for your kind wishes and same for you in 2005!

ts

Have you considered the possibility of forming a community association
as the one on http://www.oaths.com