Helping people live near their people.
Building pathways for communities to live in close proximity.
We were made for community. But modern life has pulled us apart.
Many of us crave consistent rhythms with our people, yet live 20–45 minutes from one another. The ordinary practices of shared life end up staying out of reach as distance keeps us isolated to our individual lives.
Distance
Life is scattered across town. Friendship revolves more around “catching up” than “walking with” one another.
Nearness to one another
Community is rooted in a particular place, creating opportunity for shared life and daily rhythms.
Close friendships are declining rapidly.
1 in 2 Americans have three or fewer close friends, nearly double the share in 1990.Neighboring is optional and unfamiliar.
1 in 4 adults under 30 don’t know a single neighbor.Loneliness is becoming the new norm.
1 in 3 adults feel lonely at least once a week.Proximity creates the context for life together.
Sources: Survey Center on American Life (2021) · Pew Research Center (2018) · American Psychiatric Association (2024)
What if we chose proximity on purpose?
Community becomes easier to practice when people live near each other. Proximate Communities helps groups reconsider where they live as part of how they build community.
- Friends living next door
- Shared meals
- Everyday mutual care
- Hospitality
- Neighborhood investment
- Local mission
- Long-term rootedness
- Children growing up together
A proximate community organizes life around four things.
Shared Life
Regular rhythms of gathering and mutual support.
Formation
Growing as whole people and households alongside one another.
Mission
Seeking the flourishing of neighbors and marginalized people.
Rootedness
Establishing long-term roots in a particular place.
There's more than one way to live near your people.
Existing Neighborhood
Households buy or rent homes near one another in a neighborhood that already exists.
New Development
A community works with developers, builders, investors, or landowners to create a cluster of homes.
Shared Property
A group acquires or shares a property with multiple dwellings or another shared arrangement.
Not sure yet? That's okay. Proximate Communities helps you explore before choosing a model.
From dreaming about community to living it.
Discover the Vision
Explore stories, ideas, the Proximate book, and free tools.
Tell Us About Your Community
Submit a project or join the network.
Explore Your Options
Clarify priorities, readiness, geography, budget, and pathways.
Get Connected
Receive introductions to relevant professionals, communities, and people.
Pursue Proximity
Work toward buying, relocating, or developing a proximate community.
Join the network. It’s free.
Whether you're pursuing proximity, already living it, or can help others get there, there's a place for you.
Living near your people, or hoping to?
For house churches, small groups, friend groups, families, and individuals, whether you're just dreaming or already living near one another. You don't need everything figured out to join.
- Move near friends or find homes in the same neighborhood
- Explore land, duplexes, ADUs, or shared property
- Find others nearby pursuing proximity
- Already living it? Share your story and help others
Can you help communities get there?
For realtors, developers, investors, builders, architects, lenders, and community connectors.
- Several households searching together
- Coordinated and adjacent-property searches
- Land, small developments, and shared property
- Clients who value proximity and rootedness
See who’s pursuing proximity near you.
Explore communities, households, and real estate professionals across the country, and find the people already dreaming about life together in your city.
- Browse by state and city to see where the network is growing.
- Filter by who you’re looking for: people exploring proximity, communities already living it, or professionals who can help.
- Reach out and connect. Professionals list their contact details, and private member-to-member messaging is on the way.
- Privacy first. Locations are city-level only, and members choose exactly what to share.
Open the map →
Tools for the journey.
Community Rule of Life Grid
A printable one-page grid to help your community name its vision, values, and the shared practices you’ll keep together, from daily rhythms to annual traditions.
Get the free gridCommunity Planning Workbook
A spreadsheet for organizing housing priorities, budgets, neighborhoods, and readiness.
Free download → Guide15 Steps to Proximity
A one-page practical guide for communities beginning the journey.
Free download → NewsletterWholly
Reflections on shalom and living wholly: household and communal rhythms, our bodies, and the ancient roots of our faith.
Subscribe free →The Proximity Toolkit
30+ visual tools for intentional proximity, incarnational living, and neighborhood life.
Coming soon“Friendship is the greatest of worldly goods. Certainly to me it is the chief happiness of life. If I had to give a piece of advice to a young man about a place to live, I think I should say, ‘sacrifice almost everything to live where you can be near your friends.’”
C.S. Lewis · Letter to Arthur Greeves, 1935
Start your journey toward proximity.
Joining the network allows Proximate Communities to contact you when relevant communities, professionals, opportunities, or resources become available in your area.