Oh I know all about bad neighborhoods and cheap rents. They are cheap for good reason. I have twice left a house share because it was becoming frankly unsafe t

Oh I know all about bad neighborhoods and cheap rents. They are cheap for good reason. I have twice left a house share because it was becoming frankly unsafe to live in. In the first instance I should have taken the hint that the house next door had not burnt to the ground by accident (several broken windows later I moved out!) and the second time a lunatic car thief threatened to kill me. Hard to concentrate under the circumstances. Having better company around you in a geek community is well worth it! Arguments about functional programming or open source are significantly less likely to result in death or injury. It is also nice not to have your life mortgaged to some [expletive]. The concept is that each person kicks up 25k - 50k depending on whether they build their own with other fellow TH builders or get it done for them. Common utilities to be installed and paid for can be paid back via loan or some other arrangement. For power I would recommend actually making a micro hydro station together, it's not that difficult and you could easily supply dozens of THs. Cost of land can be small since you could be in a rural area, with periodic trips or public transport nearby to a city. The reason why I'm calling this 'marginal cost' is important. It is not free (but monthly bills would seem miraculously low in comparison to most people's situation). It is just that if you do it you're unlikely to become indebted/homeless or not have the funds to stick at your project long enough. Lots of interesting ideas need considerable time and patience to gestate. VCs operate within a relatively narrow window of opportunity in time, and this is a concept that could open up more long term possibilities. The only threat to this I see is that having some pressure on your back can be a positive thing, but I feel that is a separate discussion with workarounds possible.