ZH version is available. Content is displayed in original English for accuracy.
Advertisement
Advertisement
⚡ Community Insights
Discussion Sentiment
80% Positive
Analyzed from 746 words in the discussion.
Trending Topics
#space#community#thing#someone#more#spaces#portland#start#rent#find
Discussion (12 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews
Many people aren't willing to financially support community spaces, especially if they haven't had the chance to develop memories from it. Many people can't seem to fathom that rent is an ongoing concern, and we'd rather someone commit to paying $32 a month than give us a one-time $100 donation.
I find it difficult to trust that people will contribute their share of work necessary to upkeep a space. Many users are slobs, and are happy to leave the space worse than it already is.
That's the classic problem with pseudo-anarchies. They're really dictatorships.
The larger scale form of this is the non-profit with the self-perpetuating board, where the board of directors appoints its successors. It's the standard form for big non-profits, such as hospitals or national organizations. Non-profit organizations with real elected officials, where the incumbents get kicked out now and then, are rare. They take too much attention by the members.
Nobody knows how to run a meeting under Robert's Rules of Order any more. The whole point of such meetings is that the group is in charge and the outcome is a binding decision. Most organizational leaders don't want that.
> In the end, spending time with other people is the most important thing. Everything else comes from that.
yes!
I am working, quite literally as I write this, on starting a community space like yours for 'digital makers' in Portland.
I wake up every morning feeling charged and ready; I go to sleep every night full of anxiety and doubts -- "who am I to start this thing? does anyone want this? I don't know what I'm doing!". ultimately, I feel, failure is better than not trying.
and it helps to know it's not about me. every person I talk to in my community feels the need for this thing. and that's why we want help from other people like us. we're just getting started!
if you live here and this sounds interesting to you, you can find us here: https://rcdc.space
like, i live in a big city with a tech scene and i still yearn for a space to just go and hang out to hack in that isn't a college. you are doing a service!
FWIW, not sure how you're funding it and i have no experience just offering a take: I've always felt like I would definitely be fine with spending like $15/mo on having access to a barebones space. Maybe $20-30/mo if there was more that came with it (e.g. coffee machine, occasional events). I know rent is a PITA but I get turned off by coworking spaces that charge upwards of $200+/mo, it's just not feasible obviously for a community space.
Take with that what you will, just offering one person's pov prob in your primary demographic. i'm also kinda cheap lol so maybe i'm the low end, lol
I am not based in Portland myself but I run the ticketing and membership program for Synth Library Portland which is a really cool spot. The biggest thing with all these spaces is how to make it work financially over the long term.
Feel free to ping me.
It doesn’t go over costs. Starting a “community space” in Brooklyn cannot be cheap. There seems to be an ever growing divide in art as those who can even afford to open a community space. “Just start”? I work 5 days a week and my parents would not give me the rent money to open a Brooklyn art space. This reads like someone had no money problems to worry about even when profitability was a question.