The problem we’re solving
Moab has changed a lot over the last few decades. Like most rural Western towns reshaped by industrial tourism, our town has been losing its affordable housing stock fast. Homes whose prices once fit a trail-crew or childcare wage are constantly swooped up as second homes and short-term rentals, and prices have become out of reach for our neighbors who keep this town alive.
Thankfully, there are real efforts pushing back. Deed-restricted ownership (like the homes Community Rebuilds builds) and income-restricted apartments are solutions that help keep locals housed. But these programs have limits. A deed-restricted homeowner has to qualify for a loan, scrape together a down payment, and carry a mortgage on their own. An apartment renter still answers to a landlord who can raise the rent, sell the building, or cut the lease when their income goes up. And splitting costs with roommates to make it work is tricky or impossible. Even if you jump through all the hoops to qualify for one of these programs, you don’t get much say in the rules.
The Fishbowl Collective starts from the opposite premise. A group of neighbors pools their effort and resources to secure one home together and keeps it affordable for whoever lives there next. Housing becomes something a community provides for itself instead of every individual fighting to secure housing all on their own.
Our plan is to take the Fishbowl off the speculative market and put it under community control forever. We want our home to continue to be a home, not another Airbnb sitting empty half the year. Unlike Telluride, Moab is still at a crossroads. Our colorful, rugged, quirky community still exists, but we need traditional AND creative interventions to protect what’s left. The Fishbowl is one house, but our goal is to turn it into a replicable, community-owned path to affordable housing that Moab can build on.
Housing cooperatives as a solution
A housing cooperative is a group of people who live together and democratically control the house they live in. At the Fishbowl:
- The house is owned by a nonprofit, not by any individual.
- The people who live there are members who govern it together with the nonprofit board. They vote on decisions, plan maintenance, and have a say in who joins.
- Residents pay a monthly housing cost (think rent), but they don’t buy in, don’t build personal equity, and don’t take on the mortgage as individuals.
It’s neither traditional renting nor traditional ownership. We’re building a third path that gives residents real control without taking on real-estate debt. It’s a deliberately collaborative answer to a market that usually rewards going it alone: instead of competing to out-buy one another, neighbors pool their effort to keep a home permanently within reach.
A market built on individual ownership quietly pushes everyone to fend for themselves: buy what you can, hold it, hope it appreciates. A co-op flips that incentive. Because residents govern together and no one is building private equity, the goal isn’t to profit-max off the house but to keep it working, affordable, and cared for, both for the people here now and the ones who come next. Decisions are made democratically: one member, one vote, by the people who actually live with the results.
The key players
- The land trust (MACLT) owns the land under the house, permanently, and leases it to the co-op. Keeping land in a community trust takes it off the speculative market for good.
- The Fishbowl nonprofit owns the house itself, the man-made structure on the land, and is governed by its members, which will include a mix of Fishbowl residents, previous residents, and local housing experts.
- The residents are those members. They govern the house and pay monthly costs that cover the mortgage, the land lease, day-to-day operations, and savings for repairs.
This split is the whole point. A typical homeowner can sell to the highest bidder, and a typical landlord can cash out when the market peaks. That’s exactly how affordable homes vanish. Here, neither can happen: the land is locked in a community trust, and the house is owned by a nonprofit whose mission is to keep it affordable. No one is positioned to sell it out from under the community.
How we’re buying it
We’re partnering with the Moab Area Community Land Trust (MACLT), which would buy the property from the seller through what’s called a bargain sale: the owner sells for less than full market value, and the difference counts as a charitable gift (which can carry tax benefits for the seller, and leaves a lasting community legacy). From there:
- MACLT keeps the land.
- The Fishbowl nonprofit buys just the house, with a mortgage from a mission-aligned community lender plus a down payment we’re raising right now.
- The bigger that down payment, the smaller the mortgage, and the lower we can keep monthly costs for residents, far into the future.
That down payment, $120,000, comes from a mix of community donations, low-interest loans from neighbors and local businesses, and grants. See how you can help.
Why support the co-op model
Moab’s housing crisis is bigger than any single fix, and plenty of good people are working on it. Here’s what a resident-owned co-op adds to the mix:
- It only gets more affordable. Rent covers the home’s actual costs: mortgage, land lease, upkeep, reserves. Never profit. Once the mortgage is paid off those costs drop further: the home all but pays for itself.
- It’s a seed, not a one-off. As the nonprofit pays down the mortgage, it builds equity, equity that can one day help rescue the next house. One saved home can grow into a stock of permanently affordable, community-controlled housing.
- It keeps Moab, Moab. The Fishbowl has kept locals rooted here for 15+ years. This keeps that going and keeps a real community space alive.
Want to help?
Be part of something RAD! Let’s build this together. Here’s how to pitch in.