Does every family have their own place?
Yes. Think fortified apartment building, that is built out of poured concrete and cinder block. The building is shaped like a celtic cross, with each arm being two-stories of living quarters, and a three story circular tower being in the middle where the arms cross. The outside circle of the celtic cross is a wall with decorative ports in it. That forms 4 wedges between wings and outer wall (think pizza slices). One wedge is a pool area, one is a small garden (basically herbs/medicinals), one is a playground, and one is just a place to chill.
Almost all materials were bought for pennies on the dollar through our general contractor, and transported by our OTR owner-operator. About 90% of labor was done by us.
Each family essemtially gets a 3 bedroom apartment that is a shell. Families are responsible for buying all the stuff they want (flooring, cabinets, bathroom/kitchen fixtures, etc, along with furnishings). Those items are then installed by one of our crews. Sourcing for that stuff is often done by the contractor, and transport is done by the owner-operator, so costs are very competitive.
Each family has what is essentially a large storage unit in the basement for personal preps, and personal items. The central tower has a common dining area with industrial kitchen (all items purchased when restaurants go out of business - everything from the kitchen stuff to the chairs/tables/plates/silverware), a common game room, a couple classrooms, a theater, and a command post on the top floor.
When we started, there was huge debate over whether we wanted individual houses, or something like this. This won from a footprint/ security standpoint.
My family's apartment is every bit as nice as a high-dollar apartment in the "real" world.
We have a pretty robust intranet, with a centralized server with several PB of movies/music/tv shows/data,
Several things that helped:
1. The original families had all knpwn each other for quite some time, and several of us worked together or trained together regularly.
2. We drew from a wide array of professions which ensured we had excellent skillsets onboard. Because we were all professionals, we could afford the buyin, which, while not exhorbitant, was not cheap. We all agreed we wanted to do it "right," and would listen to the members with experience for the various aspects of putting this together.
3. We all get along like family. We have our squabbles, and we know who not to trust with certain things. Under no circumstances am I allowed to do anything but carry or talk into a radio. Any other comms issue like programming, I am specifically forbidden from getting involved in. Seriously, I am mentioned by name.
4. We spent MONTHS brainstorming bylaws, and trying to think of every eventuality, then writing them accordingly.
5. We all paid dues for a year, into a fund, before we made our forst purchase. We spent 6 more months looking for the "perfect" property (suitable for micro-hydro, easily defensible, 2 hrs+ from nearest major city in an area with a good growing season. Away from natural air currents from reactors, not near any known fault lines, etc).
4. A lot of our success is based not on money, but what specific individuals bring to the table - having basically an entire construction crew on hand, along with heavy machinery, then being able to get in with the architect our contractor uses was HUGE. Having an owner-operator to transport stuff - HUGE. Engineers to design all of our systems (electrical, water/sewage, network, etc) - HUGE. Supportive spouses - HUGE.
5. Measure once, cut twice is a real thing. We rushed a road on the property, which wasted a couple months of labor before we realized it was not what we wanted. It still stands as a slowly overgrowing testament to rushing stuff you shouldn't