Lily Dale UK?

Brilliant article in 28th January PN. Lily Dale UK?
How about we all get together in to plan towards opening our own UK version of Lily Dale?
It's a sure fire winner, many spiritualists are close to retirement or already retired. Lily Dale cottages go for $35,000 basic to $50,000 for the ones with new kitchens fitted etc all on leasehold. The association retains ownership of the land and residents choose who can 'buy' cottages keeping it a spiritualist community.
Envisaged is a nice spiritualist community of comfy one and two bedroom cottages and maybe a few apartments as well with a care facility to 'move on into' if necessary. How hard can that be? Pooling 'our' resources towards running 'our' community for 'us' rather than lining the pockets of retirement complex or 'care' home sharks.
It could be run by the residents on the lines of a housing co-op and care skills could be bought in for wages without any profiteering middle man.
It's a win win scenario all round. Those who do sittings could supplement pensions by seeing folk and if we find a nice enough place then we could even have tourists visiting.
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson's mum and her friends are doing something similar for their dotage. Jeremy did an article on it a while ago in the Sunday Times rather unkindly dubbing the venture 'Ammonia Acres'. this is the same idea really, older spiritualist who'd like to live close to one another but not necessarily ion some converted big house getting together cooperatively to own and run their own place 'in the country'. There's no end of sites at (what pass for) reasonable prices compared to elsewhere around Lincolnshire both coastal and inland. Some park home places are going bust as well but 'cottages' trump trailers every time.
It only takes the square root of 1% of any group to effect positive change so if you are one of those and may be interested then you can contact the author of the article via PN.

"It's a sure fire winner, many spiritualists are close to retirement or already retired. Lily Dale cottages go for $35,000 basic to $50,000 for the ones with new kitchens fitted etc all on leasehold. The association retains ownership of the land and residents choose who can 'buy' cottages keeping it a spiritualist community."

A dwelling for that price could - in the UK - be no more than a wild dream. Count me in if anyone could develop such a community at such prices. In the southwest US it could happen were there sufficient potential members as prices are so depressed out here. 'Course you'd'ave to be an American to live there.... And Spiritualism ain't what it used to be here even if it ever were!

Just finding sufficient land in the UK would be hard enough and the price would almost certainly be prohibitive for the venture proposed.

Great - an entire ghetto with no survival evidence lol

When's the best time to plant a tree?
(Twenty years ago).
When's the next best time to plant a tree?
(Today!).
UK Housing co-ops and their more expensive cousins the English housing associations manage to do this pretty well already and the next White Paper on social care (early Spring) sets out ways by which community and faith groups can access funds for such an initiative. The time may well be right my friend.

Glad to see you've passed that 666 mac.

"community and faith groups"?

Are the Spiritualists amongst us part of either? I ain't....

'I wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have me for a member'.
Marx (Groucho not Karl).

KatyKing wrote:Glad to see you've passed that 666 mac.

I don't understand this comment but it's good to see that your contributions generally are now what I'd expect from an experienced, working medium (if this is the correct description).

When you first arrived on the boards your postings left me wondering....

Hi Mac someone noticed that for several days you were stuck on the diabolical number of 666 posts, you have now moved back into less diabolical territory.

Jim

It sounds like a great idea! But I'm in the US, and $35,000 - $50,000 for even a small house sounds mighty cheap!

Jim

Great idea but I do not think we will be able to copy it in Oz.

Well it only takes a few interested folk to get the ball rolling. We've already had support from the other side for Lily Dale UK. Robert Owen the great co operator and social philanthropist has been on to express his support, promise help and offer his services asfeasibility study group chairperson 'in spirit'.
I intuit that this may well be an initiative instituted from spirit,by Spirit. Time will tell and if it is something that our friends ,loved ones and wellwishers on the higher side of life intend to happen then any barriers to Lily Dale UK actually manifesting as a residential community of and for UK spiritualists will crumble.

Admin wrote:Hi Mac someone noticed that for several days you were stuck on the diabolical number of 666 posts, you have now moved back into less diabolical territory.

Jim

ah - I see

KatyKing wrote:Well it only takes a few interested folk to get the ball rolling. We've already had support from the other side for Lily Dale UK. Robert Owen the great co operator and social philanthropist has been on to express his support, promise help and offer his services asfeasibility study group chairperson 'in spirit'.
I intuit that this may well be an initiative instituted from spirit,by Spirit. Time will tell and if it is something that our friends ,loved ones and wellwishers on the higher side of life intend to happen then any barriers to Lily Dale UK actually manifesting as a residential community of and for UK spiritualists will crumble.

I like that!

Jim

[quote="Left Behind"]It sounds like a great idea! But I'm in the US, and $35,000 - $50,000 for even a small house sounds mighty cheap!


Maybe it's so inexpensive because you might get only a lifetime (THIS life! ) lease on the property?

It sounds like what's called a "co-op" (the owner gets a lifetime lease on the individual living unit, and a percentage undivided share of the whole venture, and the co-op association controls to whom it can be sold), as opposed to a "condo" (the owner gets permanent ownership of the space within the walls of the individual unit, and a percentage undivided share of the common space, and can sell to whomever he wants).

It's a real estate arrangement permitted in only some US states: New York being one of them.

Also, real estate prices have been down for years here: and I don't think the Lily Dale area is a booming real estate market area.


Jim

Yes its a life lease Jim. In Lil Dale USA the assembly retains overall ownership hence Dale homes sell for cash as banks won't lend on leases . Here in UK we have housing co ops and shared ownership schemes . It's even possible for a housing association to borrow at competitive long term rates underwritten by the state. I think a co ops the best approach. That way co owners who could buy i would live alongside renters who did not have the capital to buy but could still live in the community. Mixed developments of private and rented homes tend to get planing approval in England easier than entirely private estate projects. The other advantage of the co op approach is democracy. No fat cats to cream off resources. All benefits accrue as dividends equally amongst the members with any liabilities shared likewise. If its meant to be it'll happen.

I've heard it said that co-op ownership can be great, if you find yourself in one where you're very compatible. And that it better work out that way, because they're hard to sell: due to the fact that the co-op association must approve the sale.

The assembly retains ownership so any benefits accruing say from someone passing early in a lease would go to legatees or revert to the assembly according to the wishes of the member. Th land always belongs to the co op and that way there's no question of non spiritualists moving in. There are drawbacks. Property prices remain static so a Lily Dale UK property has to be seen as a nest rather than a nest egg. This is a lifestyle Jim (but not as we know it ).

KatyKing wrote: The assembly retains ownership so any benefits accruing say from someone passing early in a lease would go to legatees or revert to the assembly according to the wishes of the member. Th land always belongs to the co op and that way there's no question of non spiritualists moving in. There are drawbacks. Property prices remain static so a Lily Dale UK property has to be seen as a nest rather than a nest egg. This is a lifestyle Jim (but not as we know it ).

That sounds as though the legatees could possibly move in, but that it would be subject to the assemby/association's approval. Or sell it to someone else, but the buyer's moving in would also be so subject.

Or, I guess the legatees could sell their interest back to the association.

In any case, I'm sure it's all arranged in advance what options are available.

Hope so. All we need now is a founders group and we're on.

KatyKing wrote:Hope so. All we need now is a founders group and we're on.

You can't count me in there, KK.

My money's a puny pension, payable in US dollars, each of which buys only about .65 of a pound sterling.

And then there's my citizenship angle.


Jim

This kindle does not like snow it keeps losing signal. I'll put you down as the international development secretary Jim.

KatyKing wrote: This kindle does not like snow it keeps losing signal. I'll put you down as the international development secretary Jim.

Hey, I'd be honored to accept the title and position.

Jim

Done. Welcome aboard. All we need now is some UK members.

Just read your article today, Peter. PN was having a hard time getting PayPal sorted out, and I wanted to start my subscription with the first issue: so Alita held onto them for me, and mailed me the first four in a batch.

You look like a very kindly gentleman.

Do you know if Lily Dale is open to any Spiritualists who want to reside there? Or must one be a professional medium to live there?

I would imagine it gets MIGHTY cold there in the winter! Cassadaga, Florida might be a better place to live. WOULD be a better place to live, just on a climate basis.

Jim