Volha
I also think that forming a secluded community would be in many ways "running away from our cross." The challenges of the modern life is our cross to bear it was God's will otherwise it wouldn't be.
Certainly becoming a part of such a community should not be misunderstood: we cannot run away from obligations or that which God wishes us to do (or a cross which he has placed on our shoulders). For most people today, the challenges of modern life are indeed our major cross. In this way, I definately can see where you're coming from.
On the other hand though, there were always those who left society at large and sought a different type of life. Someone might have said to a monk in the fifth century: "The population of the empire is dropping drastically, immorality is rampant, and we need learned and good men as Priests and Bishops, why do you want to go out into the desert? What good will that do?" It may have appeared to most people that the "cross" would be withstanding barbarian invasions, building a Christian empire, keeping the hierarchy as honest/pious as possible, etc., and so it might have appeared that people going out into the desert were "running from their responsibility" (or cross).
I don't think that's the case though, as I'm sure most wouldn't. Sometimes people can move out of the "normal" situation without it being nothing more than running away from their cross. I do think you bring up a good point that we all need to consider: we must be careful that we are doing what God wants, and fighting the battles he has called and prepared each of us for. On the other hand, I can see how it would be possible for it to be alright to form such a community and fight our combat and carry our cross in a slightly different way than normal (as monks have always done).
There are plenty of abandonded houses that could be bought and fixed up for a lot less than it would cost here to establish a community from scratch. The babushkas would be happy to teach you gardening, etc. Just a thought.
And a very good thought! 
I had been thinking about something similar lately (joining an already started community), though I hadn't known about what you were specifically speaking of. That's another thing for us to think about 
Basil Shannon
Perhaps, many modern conviniences could be housed in a common hall for all to share,
This is one of the things we all discussed in the other thread, and I think it's a great idea.
while each home could be kept more simple, with only some labor-saving devices.
I guess one of the questions we have to explore is what to do if someone requires a device that others don't have. For instance, what if someone is a web designer and needs a computer? Does he have to get a new job? Does he get a computer for usage in work only? Or does everyone get a computer? Regardless, I do think that a computer in a community place would be beneficial.
If we had community eating and so forth, this would cut down on the need to have a bunch of things in the individual dwellings. If we ate at a community place, there wouldn't even be a question as to microwaves and dishwashers, and even stoves and fridges, in our homes.
I do think hard work is valuable, but some labor-saving devices could free up time to put more energy into misson work, prayer, and in a business to help support the community (i.e. I'm thinking of dishwashers and clothes washers/dryers, etc).
I would tend to agree with this. Even the most conservative monastics use some things from the modern world, certainly it wouldn't be improper for us to as well if it was felt a good thing.
I have a young family, two children both under age 3. I would love for this to materialize in time for them to be educated and grow up in an Orthodox community.
This brings to mind another question, especially if we went with a less-reclusive option: where and in what way will the kids be schooled? I planned on home-schooling my kids anyway, but I don't know how others feel about that. A community school is an option, if there are people who are willing to do the teaching (I think, at least at first, we'd probably all have to participate in this in the subjects we know something about)
What would be the first step? ...Would moving into a small community and "taking over," so to speak, be an option or would all the infrastructure be new construction?
Prayer obviously (I'm just saying that generally, addressed to the lurker, just so there's no mistake about how we are going about this). Perhaps we should come to some sort of agreement about a particular saint to which we could pray to regarding this matter: does anyone know a saint who did or helped with something similar to what is being proposed?
Past that, I think it'd be most beneficial to come to some sort of agreement as to what type of community it would be. Maybe after another week we can summarize what most people would be willing to "go with," and we can go from there. After the type is decided, I think we could also decide how we will do the initial move (e.g., do we buy a house with 6 Bedrooms and move in until we can develop things; do we wait until we can build seperate dwellings; do we build our own; etc.).
What would be the most advantageous part of the country to relocate?
Good question! We all seem to have different ideas on this question 
. If agricultural concerns were minimal or nonexistent, I would prefer in the east, somewhere in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, or North Carolina (I'm trying to avoid the temptation of overly favoring my own state, PA! 
). Nicholas seems to be leaning towards the mid-west. What do others think? Besides any agricultural concerns, we'd also want to consider how far away the closest Orthodox Church was. Personally, I think we should try to relocate far enough away from the closest parish so as not to cause problems with them, but close enough so that we could go to receive communion (until we had a Priest). Unless, of course, we would have a priest from the beginning, which would obviously be the best case scenario, but I don't know how realitic it would be. But maybe others know more than me about how open bishops are in such matters?
