I am an English junior at Midwestern State University who decided to take this class because I thought it provided a great opportunity to learn more about communities, something I had never been exposed to before. As an English major, I rarely learn about sociology, which is a focal point of this class.

I have enjoyed learning more about different communities and conducting more research into the community that I decided to research.

The community I am focusing on is the Garden of Eden, a sustainable community in Arlington, Texas.

The main focus is on how the community has achieved their own version of success within the seven years it has been active, while also looking at how the community achieves sustainability and any long-term goals members have.

While researching the community, I realized I would have to sign an agreement to enter the gates. I didn’t feel comfortable signing the agreement, so I declined. While I regret not getting to see the community, I don’t regret not signing. 

With my knowledge of the community, the agreement and Erik Reece’s Utopia Drive analysis in mind, I have to say I wouldn’t want to live at the community. While I wouldn’t want to live in a community, I agree with Reece’s statement: “I think just having a utopian vision is important because it can make people stop and think about the way they’re living or what society looks like and whether there might be ways of making it better” (320).

While I think having this vision is important, sustainable living doesn’t appeal to me. I am too comfortable with my very unsustainable life, and I don’t think I would be able to give it up.

And through conducting research this semester, I have realized that I don’t think I could ever live in a community. The lifestyle is not one that I would actively seek out.

However, like Henry David Thoreau said, I think there are opportunities in going into the woods to live deliberately, to find the essential facts of life. But I also believe these essential facts are different for everyone – the community members have found those facts at the Garden of Eden, and I have found them elsewhere.

Citation: Reece, Erik . Utopia Drive : A Road Trip Through America’s Most Radical Idea. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016.