Residents revive promise of communes

Not far from the towering penthouses and opulent lakefront homes, the hippie heart of Seattle is still beating.

In homes around the city and beyond, like-minded souls are living together in arrangements traditionally known as communes, and more typically referred to these days as "intentional communities."
...
The Emma Goldman Finishing School, located behind Amazon.com's headquarters on Beacon Hill, is among the latter. Whimsically named after Goldman, an anarchist and feminist born in 1869 in Lithuania, the community currently includes 10 people living in a sprawling 12-bedroom house, its rooms painted in warm, vivid colors.

"What we do is probably on the external edge of how much sharing is involved," said resident Parke Burgess, 40. "We share everything -- the house, the health care, the food and basic household items, like toothpaste and soap. When you live in this community, you get all your basic needs met, in exchange for working for the benefit of the group."
...