Communities that outlived their purpose

Wants to talk with people living in community in Western US places that outlasted their original purpose and never found a new one, to understand how collapse actually looks and how living in community within it can be bearable. Prefers long-rooted towns (families who stayed after the industry left) to intentional or improvised settlements; holds that the biggest problem with intentional communities is the intentionality. May photograph and publish later, with care; explicitly does not want to contribute to "ruin porn". Wonders whether El Cerrito and Richmond are already good places for this inquiry.

Live: re-check with James before relying on this.

Provenance: James, in conversation with Claude, Oct 2026 (unverified). Disposition: live.

Related: porous-community, local-archives

Part of thread: thread-place-membership