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Groups of Villages For every four villages (a “district”) there should be a school. If each household has an average of two children, there would be 64 children in those four villages (a district) across 12 grades (8 homes per village x 2 children per home x 4 villages.) If the grades are split into 4 groups, for example grades 1-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12 and a community has a classroom for each group that would be an average of 16 children each. Of course there will some households with no children, some with more than two, and communities may also have many retired people in some villages. In a larger community, a separate school for grades 9-12 should be established for the whole community, and should include some career or occupational training. Grades 1-3 could also be taught separately in one of the common areas of a village in each district. If this were done that would leave 32 children on average in each grade school, from grades 4-8, which is more manageable. We would like to see high teacher-student ratios. These details can be decided upon by the members of the community. 
To the right is a sample diagram of
four villages and a school in the center. Yellow - school. (The square is 1 acre but the building and grounds may not be quite this large.) Light green - common area of each village Dark green - 8 tracts around each village, used for crops, 1 acre each Light blue - portions of the 1 acre lots used for tree borders, small parks, etc Each community must have a central complex for the whole community. This will consist of community buildings and common areas. Examples are a guest house, higher educational facilities, meeting places, community offices, restaurant, gift shop, market and cooperative store, centralized security station, and so forth. In larger communities some of these facilities could be on a more local level, such as a co-op store in each district. For every 3-4 districts, or 12-16 villages, there should also be a similar smaller complex. On an average of 4 people per home, 12 villages is 384 people. Using an average of 6 people per home will result in a total of 576 people. Therefore there is a need to provide at least some of the facilities described above for each group of villages, such as a market, meeting place, and cooperative store. If a community is two or three times this size, additional complexes with one or more of these buildings will be developed as needed. Within the entire community certain types of buildings may be repeated within each complex and others may not. For example, we may find a need for a market and coop store within each complex, but only one large auditorium for the entire community. There will be a large man-made lake on the property, if a natural lake or waterfront does not exist. It should be at least 10% of the size of the entire property. The water is not intended to be for personal use or agricultural use except in an emergency. Water for each home will be provided by rainwater harvesting, and water for irrigation will be provided from a well drilled down to the aquifer within each village. The primary central complex will be constructed by the lake. There will naturally be trails around the lake for walking, bicycling or running, as well as parks and swimming areas, etc. The central complex should be at the waterfront, and will create a very nice waterfront atmosphere for the residents and the general public. All this will take time to develop, but the area must be allocated from the inception of the community. Without plenty of water a community might not survive in a prolonged drought, and the aesthetic impact and recreational function of a large body of water cannot be overestimated. The need for the buildings in the central complexes is clear, but the designs are not fixed. The exact designs can be determined by the members of each community. However, the land area should be allocated for them at the inception of each community. Below is a sample layout of a community consisting of approximately 250 acres and 12 villages.  Community Layout
Green = village cropland Light green = villages Black dots = houses Yellow “S” = schools Light blue = trees, parks, etc Dark blue = primary lake Dark gray = main pathways Light gray = footpaths Black lines = main road Red “C” = central complex Pink “P” = parking lot (Note: Central complex may itself be up to 10 acres and be spread out along the lakefront. This map only shows general layout, as the lake will be more round.)
Roads and Utilities The main road coming in to the community will have a gated entrance that can be locked at night, with a guard station. There should be fencing around the entire perimeter of the community to keep out unwanted animals like deer and wild hogs, which can decimate crops. All gasoline or diesel motor vehicles are required to park in the parking lot, and no cars will be allowed anywhere else except when a family is moving in or out. Here are some other places where cars are not allowed. This is very important for creating a nice atmosphere. There should be four paths connecting each village to the ones around it. (See dark gray lines on map above.) The paths will be just wide enough to drive a normal-width vehicle, so that people moving in to or out of homes can be accommodated. Other than these occurrences, all traffic on the path is by bicycle, horse, on foot - and possibly by electric golf cart for the elderly. Communities will also want a set of diagonal foot paths connecting the villages to the schools, and the central complex area to the villages on the diagonals. Larger properties For communities with twice the land, if it runs primarily east and west, it would look like the diagram below. If a community buys 1/2 this amount (around 250 acres as in the first example) and we can purchase adjoining land later on that is not adjacent to the lake we can still make it work. The principle is that at least 1/10 of the property must be used for water. An example is below. The original 250 acre property is on the right, with the lake created in the northeast quadrant. If the only adjacent property available later on was to the west, we could still purchase it, and create a second lake. The two properties of 250 acres each could still be combined into one community, as shown below
Therefore, even for smaller properties we do not need to wait to dig a lake. If we add more property later we can make one large lake or multiple smaller lakes as necessary, although one large lake is preferable.
If a community has four times the land, it would look like the diagram below. The central complex should still be on the waterfront, and secondary complexes can also be on the waterfront in other quadrants of the property. 
The above layouts are simple representations to convey the concepts. Most properties are not exactly square or rectangular so there are likely to be areas outside the above diagrams, and they would be designated for use for animal husbandry, extra land for organic farming for profit, future wind farm, etc. The above property would require around 1000 acres and support 12 districts, which is 48 villages or around 400 homes. The property is roughly 1.5 miles long by 1.5 miles wide. At an average of 4 people per house, this is around 1600 people including children. Any group larger than this would require the formation of a second community, as cohesive management becomes difficult. Two or more such communities could share resources as the need arises, and work cooperatively to form larger units for particular purposes without changing or disrupting their existing models. This is the amount of land that is ideal for most communities, which is apparent by the structure. The minimum land that allows for sufficient residences, in addition to crazing land, common areas, etc, is around 100 acres. Next - (Further Development) Central Complex
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