You’ve perhaps heard of Dunbar’s Number: 150. Put forward by anthropologist Robin Dunbar, humans can only maintain stable social relationships with around 150 people; a cognitive limit based on the size of the neocortex.
While 150 is the most famous figure suggested by Dunbar, there were others. Best viewed as nested concentric circles of 5 (family / inner circle), 15 (good friends), 50 (friends), 150 (meaningful contacts), 500 (acquaintances) and 1500 (people you can recognize).
Just like Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs provides helpful inspiration for The Stack, our framework for considering one’s home, habitat, community, gifts, and network as a whole system, and Ross Chapin‘s notion of physically clustering groups of neighbouring houses around a common open area to create Pocket Neighborhoods that accentuate both personal space and shared stewardship, Dunbar’s Numbers identify some important thresholds to keep in mind when designing the scale of a cohousing community. Or at least it has for us.
Our goal has always been to have a “human-scale” community, which in terms of headcount means somewhere between 15 and 50 people – ideally a couple dozen good friends. Not too small as to miss out on many of the social and practical benefits of community but not too large as to become impersonal and bureaucratic, replicating formally governed municipalities. To us, a couple dozen multigenerational and disparately skilled people seems just right.
We believe there’s a Goldilocks Zone for tiny house communities and it manifests itself in a variety of ways. For example:
- A lone house in someone’s driveway is too lonely and one placed in a packed subdivision is too crowded, but a pocket neighbourhood in between is just right.
- A backyard lot may be too muddy and a campground lot may be too concrete, but a permeable pad may be just right.
- A group of renters may be too transient and a group of vacationers may be too temporary, but a co-owned community may have a level of investment and commitment that’s just right.
- A Facebook posting may be too cheap or informal and an MLS listing may be too pricey and complex, but a cohousing opportunity may be just right.
- A tiny house can be too small and an acreage/farm can be too big, but together with edge space they find balance that is just right.
This Goldilocks Zone isn’t obvious until it is, and it points to an underserved middle in the housing market. One-off lots don’t usually consider community and developer-led real estate projects often prioritize density over everything else. But there’s a human-scale space in-between.
At Big Calm, not only are we aiming for a reasonable and sustainable size, we’re finding ways to economize country living by pooling resources for community projects, sharing tools and common spaces, harnessing neighbourhood scale geothermal energy, and gaining bulk discounts on materials for things like decking, skirting, and backup power. It’s just right.
