Welcome. You  are entering a private community. 

It is not really gated, but much of it is off-limits to Visitors. Most of our tours have been discontinued for the rest of the winter. Re-opening March 1, under new management.

Here's a rundown of the current status of some of the main tour points of ComPlaces. For more information, please contact tour guide Jamie Goad.

The Mountain Bugle is closed for remodeling and upgrading. It has changed hands, and a more radical group is now reconfiguing its technology for WRAP Community Radio. Rumor is, they will retitle it "The Rural Scoop." The staff of Goad Communications is diligently cranking out tracts and theses sure to insult the sensibilities of some of our neighbors. The first ones should roll out by Ash Wednesday, Feb. 9. Meanwhile, there's "Ask Amy" in Jamie Goad's gossip column, members and guests only. Guests please sign in at the community center.. MEET.  Letters to editor or Guest Op-Eds should be sent to Wink Martin@communityplaces.net

Residents and business owners should check the FORUM for messages and announcements. Also see Jamie for THE COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD. Members Only.

 "Blue Ridge Country" makes its GRAND OPENING, Apr. 1, 2005. Our mantra is "scenic and rural, historic and wild." Now leasing. email WEBMASTER

As you can see, (PIX) Main Street is closed. All those with business interests on Main Street, please stay in touch at Jamie@communityplaces.net.   Members and Associates showcase family businesses, especially country stores, retailers and neighborhood eateries; business management services; home maintenance and personal services; alternative and complementary health practitioners and healthy food producers; and artists.  Note our affiliated business organizations such as the SBA (SperryvilleBusinessAlliance, sperryville.net) ; rappahannock.com, Oldway Art Center, and GreenPages.com.  Jamie Goad will be leading a special tour down MainSt discussing economic viability and public lighting; she is also arranging an early Spring local mountain bike excursion called "The Path Less Traveled." 

Our online community bank and credit union is now being developed by a small online group of members. When the bank opens some time in 2005, members may enjoy the benefits of discounts, sliding scale and barter in providing local goods and services, and bank their volunteer hours. If you want to help as a Charter Member on this effort, Contact Board Chair pro temp, blc@communityplaces.net

Under the Play button.. Members Improvise Community! To explore ComPlaces as if it were a game, click  Much action currently backstage. Apply as stagehand, actor or improv player (see Jamie.) Some of the seven levels of play, based in part on the ALL Game tm will be available shortly.

 This web site designed as a hub of communication and learning among neighbors and between small communities in a rural region of central Virginia. We are located where the Upper Virginia Piedmont vanishes into the Blue Ridge Mountains.   We are now nearing completion of our "beta testing" period, and are ready to take on new members. Learn more about this project of the Laconwood Institute and its learning and business partners, the Piedmont Research Institute.com, Rural Madison.com, Rural Rappahannock (see Forum), Hearthstone School, Belle Meade School, WheelockWebWorks.com, RappCo Self-Help Center, and our other partners. (Soon, perhaps, to include a liaison with Lord Fairfax Community College.) Observe the various ways we demonstrate resilient community in our unique educational programs combining online and in person elements. Join us now if you live in sight of the Blue Ridge Mountains, morning side or evening side. We are demonstrating the use of the Internet to add resilience, vitality, knowledge, entertainment, and economic security to our rural lives. For more information about the benefits of membership, ask a participating neighbor.

. So, Visitors and Guests, we are glad you are here, and we look forward to getting to know you! Feel free to explore all the options available to you. . , and give us your feedback. JOIN now, and tell us how you would like to use the site. For example, you might be interested in advertising on Main Street, or having a feature done on you and your business in the Blue Mountain Bugle. Or maybe you'd like to become partners and/or part owners of communityplaces.net, or build one in yer community. ContactJamie . If you complete the "member profile", you will automatically be considered for membership. We never rent or sell our Member list. If you encounter problems, leave them in the Forum box, or email us at webmaster@communityplaces.net. 

Members of the Blue Ridge Association Only. We need some active posters, go to TALK and participate in the interactive forums, or start yer own.  Now hiring moderators, photographers and editors. Jamie   Note building out Branch St. SEE MAP #3. Join our local enviro groups, Rural Madison and RLEP. Join our three landtrusts-- PEC, RCCA and BRFC.          RFP on MS pedestrian lighting due soon to Board. chair.. blc@communityplaces.net.  See also DarkSkies advocacy group on Forum.