Every model has been proven by real communities with real constraints. Pick your kit. Read the shopping list. Send the first email. The rest follows. The pattern already exists — you just have to stop blocking it.
Community-owned. Solar-powered. $1.50–$4/month per household. No telecom company. No landlord. The signal belongs to the people who built it. Running right now on 6 continents.
Monthly ongoing: bulk ISP uplink $30–$80/month total ÷ 20 households = $1.50–$4/person. Energy: $0.
AlterMundi responds within 1 week. They have helped communities in 40 countries. The help is free.
Community-owned solar generation. Members own the panels, share the power, vote on the surplus. Zero energy bills. Proven from Belgium to Scotland to Germany to Morocco.
Grant funding typically covers 30–60% of capital cost. Net member investment: $500–$1,500 per household. Energy savings begin day one.
Land owned by the community. Homes affordable forever. The trust holds the land — residents own the homes. Resale prices stay affordable because the trust retains a share of equity. Running in 20+ NYC neighborhoods, across the UK, across the world.
Permanent, perennial food production on public or community land. Once planted, it feeds the neighborhood for decades with zero ongoing cost. Denver has 20 of them. You can start one this season.
After year 3: ongoing cost is nearly zero. The forest feeds itself. Comfrey mulches itself. Nitrogen-fixers fertilize themselves. You harvest.
Community gathering where broken things get fixed for free. Volunteers with skills fix electronics, clothing, furniture, bikes. Landfill diverted. Skills shared. Community built. 2,500 cafés in 40 countries. The lowest-barrier SolarPunk model to start.
After the first event: pass a hat. Most repair cafés become self-funding within 3 events from small donations.