GoKawiilEditor’s note: this is a guest post from Jesse Evers, adapted from a longer version on Jesse’s personal blog here.
The tension between creating a community space that is welcoming, generative, AND sustainable is one we love to explore. Jesse shares his journey with Highside: the special magic that comes from trusting people with nice things, and the reasons he eventually decided to shut it down. We see echoes of merlins place, another ‘third space’/living space in Brooklyn, and Clarendon, a house & community hub for nine years in Cambridge, MA.
An early songwriters’ night at Highside
Date founded: 2022 Location: Brooklyn, NY Rented or owned: Rented Amount of space: ~2500 sq ft multi-purpose warehouse with one bedroom Governance: basically anarchic, but with one person ultimately calling the shots
I sat down to write an essay about what I’ve learned from running a community space the last few years, and the imposter syndrome hit before I even typed the first letter. What do I know?? And who wants to take lessons from the guy whose space shut down?
But damn it, I have learned some things about community spaces! And here’s the first one, before I get into specifics:
JUST START.
You will never get it perfectly right the first time. There will never be the perfect space, or the perfect financial model, or the perfect moment. You have to be just crazy enough to believe that it’s gonna work out, jump into the deep end, and figure it out along the way.
But let’s back up.
What is a community space?
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