In the ‘future plans’ section of your 2024 fundraising post, you briefly mentioned slowly building out an FHI-of-the-west as one of the things for which you wish you had the time & funding.
I think this is happening, albeit slowly and piecemeal. There are several resident scholars at Lighthaven now, and I know some writers who have used the equivalent of “visiting scholar” positions at Lighthaven as a first step in moving to the Bay full-time. It might be worth making this more legible, though I can imagine counterarguments too.
I know some writers who have used the equivalent of “visiting scholar” positions at Lighthaven as a first step in moving to the Bay full-time.
I would not be surprised if the long-term impact of Inkhaven is that >50% of the out-of-town participants move to the Bay Area by the end of 2026. For example, Jenn is already considering it:
And when I returned home after a month, when I looked at it with fresh eyes, it started to look less like an oasis and more like the world’s most luxurious solitary confinement cell.
Now I want to say yes to more than is available here. More life, more connection, more romance. A friend once told me that it’s wise to move cities often, because each city whispers a different thing to you, and each city brings out different facets of yourself. I adore the version of me that emerged in Berkeley. I want to nurture her more. And I don’t think there is enough for her here.
You know, that’s an exceedingly reasonable read of how I ended that post. But! For the record, I love Canada too much to leave, and this is not a thing I am considering doing. What I have done is put in my two month’s notice, and I’ll be moving from my beloved little town to Toronto early next year. I figure there’ll be enough action in the fourth largest North American city to keep me occupied :)
But also yeah probably a bunch of American inkies are gonna move, eh.
Obvious implication is obvious: Lighthaven should seriously consider ways to capture a share of value form “I have a flow of people moving to the Bay Area”. (Dumb version: find a realtor adjacent to this community, capture a share of referral fees. Other more sophisticated options are left as an exercise to the reader.)
I think this is happening, albeit slowly and piecemeal. There are several resident scholars at Lighthaven now, and I know some writers who have used the equivalent of “visiting scholar” positions at Lighthaven as a first step in moving to the Bay full-time. It might be worth making this more legible, though I can imagine counterarguments too.
I would not be surprised if the long-term impact of Inkhaven is that >50% of the out-of-town participants move to the Bay Area by the end of 2026. For example, Jenn is already considering it:
You know, that’s an exceedingly reasonable read of how I ended that post. But! For the record, I love Canada too much to leave, and this is not a thing I am considering doing. What I have done is put in my two month’s notice, and I’ll be moving from my beloved little town to Toronto early next year. I figure there’ll be enough action in the fourth largest North American city to keep me occupied :)
But also yeah probably a bunch of American inkies are gonna move, eh.
Obvious implication is obvious: Lighthaven should seriously consider ways to capture a share of value form “I have a flow of people moving to the Bay Area”. (Dumb version: find a realtor adjacent to this community, capture a share of referral fees. Other more sophisticated options are left as an exercise to the reader.)
Lightcone-branded tenements, of course.
(Looks at half completed pitch deck titled “Starcology: A Lighthaven Managed Residence” and hits delete)
Excuse me, the technical term is group house.
I am in this picture, and I’m unsure how to feel about it