Three Steps to a Community Commonwealth

Step 2:  Legal Design

The Institute supports people working to build community as the means for meeting our individual needs while honoring our common values.

The second of High Plains Institute's three steps to a Community Commonwealth is "Legal Design".

An appropriate form of legal organization must be developed for any type of economic sharing.  Options range from forms of privately-owned property that people can easily take out of the group when they leave (such as selling a cohousing condominium unit), to forms of commonly-owned property that never leaves the community, even if all of the original members do (such as a community land trust).

Examples:

Limited Liability Corporation (link)
Cooperative Corporation (link)
Cohousing (condominium, planned unit development or other common-interest ownership association)
Nonprofit Organization (link)
Community Land Trust (link)

After deciding upon the legal design of your cooperative enterprise, the next step is working out the financing.

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