The Central Complexes in a community can serve many purposes.

Communities need higher education, especially if they are large.  Teachers must be trained and certified and facilities must be sufficient. If a community does not have a lot of children, then one of the schools normally used for our grade schools can instead be used for higher education. Older children may have to go to a local high school when a community is still under development. 

The community should have a nice guest house by the lake.  A community might become well-known just for a vegetarian restaurant that uses only organic local produce. This is one of the best ways to promote vegetarianism. A nice guest house on a lake that uses sustainable principles could also be very attractive and bring many visitors, and also be an educational experience. 

Communities can have classes of various types for community members, by those expert in particular fields.  We can also have classes and workshops for the general public.  Many of the people in a community will become expert in a variety of topics. These include green construction methods, rainwater harvesting, wind power, solar power, organic gardening, vegetarianism, community development, and even various arts and crafts and cottage industries and so forth. People can come on weekends, spend the night in a guest house, have great vegetarian meals in a restaurant, take some classes, and get hands-on workshops as part of the course.

Another purpose is for exchange and sale of goods.  Within a community most things can be done by barter or gift, but any excess produce and cottage industry items can also be sold in a marketplace or gift shop to guests and visitors. As a community grows, the marketplace or gift shop could become quite popular on weekends.

A community should have a small auditorium for dramatic performances or other presentations.  There can be exhibits on various aspects of self-sufficiency or spirituality, and various types of drama or film presentations. We should have a broad collection of documentaries on various aspects of self-sufficiency and sustainability, including related subjects.

The idea is to have multiple activities for visitors and guests. The combination of a nice guest house, restaurant, lake, classes on sustainable subjects, and a working agrarian community can give people a wonderful experience. We can make our communities places of healing. People should want to come just for the atmosphere.

Development of a future higher education system should be included in the planning.  This is where residents and visitors can get in-depth occupational, leadership, spiritual, and social education. 

Recreation is also important for guests and visitors.  Swim in the lake and picnic on the shore - but everyone should understand lake ecology and follow any applicable rules. The community can have retreats and camping for people who just want to get out of the city and take a break. We can have places for children to play, and public gardens and boardwalks by the lake. We can have drama and games for both adults and children. We can have gift shops with homemade ice cream and other locally crafted items.

All of this can provide a source of revenue.  It takes construction of the necessary buildings, good organization, and some education and experience. But if we simply engage in trying to make money, we lose our original purpose of simple living and high thinking. We don't want to become dependent upon selling goods at the expense of producing for our own needs, otherwise our chances of surviving a future catastrophe become much smaller. When money becomes the primary motivation it can ruin communities. 

Great care should be taken in choosing what services or commodities a community engages in for business purposes, since a business mentality spoils the sharing atmosphere of the community and will make it difficult to realize our goals.  There is no reason why a self-sufficient community should not also produce something that brings in some outside revenue, such as crops, goods, or services. The risk is that such activity brings about a more fruitive mentality, and we end up just doing business, and lose the community spirit of giving and sharing. 

We can become healthy by living simply and close to the earth, and teaching others how to do this by inviting them to come and see; thus providing them with a nice experience.

If this process of helping others generates money then that is a bonus, and not the real reason for doing it.  Our primary focus should not be on making money, even though it is required.

By attempting to realize our second goal of introducing people to such principles by giving them a good experience, we can also generate income needed to continue a community’s development without sacrificing the realization of our first goal, self-sufficiency through an agrarian lifestyle. The various buildings of the central complexes serve these purposes especially for the general public, as well as directly serving the needs of the community.

Next - (Development) Community Buildings