Methodius,
I too think a priest is important, but while the community is building I think reader services augmented with a monthly liturgy would suffice for the first year. It would be difficult to convince a bishop to assign a priest to such a small effort when there are so many mission out there. I think perhaps a better way would be to have one of the members of the community seek ordination.
Depending on the region the middle of nowhere is a variable term. While in Montana or British Columbia you can be hundreds of miles from a city of a reasonable size, in other areas a remote location would be outside of city limits. You can find these areas in the NE, SE, NW, or SW United States and in every province in Canada. Here are some areas I've researched and think would be suitable for an Orthodox community:
Southern Missouri - Distinct four season climate. Equidistant to many areas of the US would be an asset for visitors and family. One secular community there(Dancing Rabbit, link above) is in a program with the Bureau of Land Management where they leave a large percentage of fields to lie fallow for 10 years to encourage native plant growth. In exchange for this they were able to buy twice the amount of land they thought they would. In 10 years the rest of the land will be ready to use and the community will have expanded by that time hopefully.
Eastern Pennsylvania - Good climate, but not as long a growing season as further south. Many Orthodox in this area. Also have many Amish and Bruderhof for friendly relations and practical help perhaps.
Western NC/SC - This is the area I reside in, so I may be a bit biased. But this area has a very long growing season(which can be made year round by use of cold frames)and has several Orthodox parishes of varying jurisdictions nearby. The furtherest you would from civilization would be 1-2 hours away from a small city.
Southwest British Columbia - Due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean this area has the same growing season as a thousand miles south. Climate is like Seattle or London, perpetually damp but not always rainy. Once you get outside of Vancouver, land is very very cheap.
Of course, there are many other good areas out there. These are just the few I researched when I was serious about starting a community four years ago. I think the best combination for a community is to be around half an hour to an hour away from a medium sized town that would have a hospital, airport, and other things that would be useful especially if you wanted to have many visitors.
Liudmilla,
You make very good points. I agree that having a priest as the guide may not be the best idea. Surely, the priest would be in charge of all things spiritual, but for day-to-day decision making there should be a method that would involve all the members of such a community. As long as the community remains small(25 adults and under) I think a simple two thirds majority vote would work. One initial problem that I've seen with many groups who try to start such communities is how to legally set up the land. Subdivide the land into equal parcels for those who pay upfront and have those people sell divide and sell portions of their parcels as more people want to move there? Set up the land as a LLP or give it to the diocese and have the members lease their portion of land used? A combination of the two? There are many options here and it is hard to decide on one without losing a member or two after the hard decision is made.
Also, I don't think at this point we should try to become just like the Amish. There will be enough problems early on without the annoyance of living without modern technology, for some for the first time. Having said this, I think that homes should be built to adapt to non-electric conditions(ie tall ceilings with vents at the top for hot climates, facing most of the windows south to use passive solar heating and lighting, etc) and later on many might wish to do without modern technology. But I don't feel it is a choice to be made right away. I do think that using renewable energy sources(solar, wind, hydroelectric) is an admiriable goal to make, and the further the community is from the power grid the cheaper it is to use these sources.
