Intentional community demands a huge amount of work from everyone involved in it. You can't just sorta *be* you have to actively involve yourself in everything from the most personal needs to the largest governance issues. And they are usually so small and interwoven that you have to leave them for any kind of private time. If you're the kind of person who thrives on the feeling of support and enmeshment, and derives a sense of success from creating consensus and compromise, then they are wonderful ... but if not, uh-oh.