4 Utopian Communities That Didn't Pan Out Every once in a while,
a proud little community will sprout up just to let the world
know how Utopia should be run. With chins raised almost as high
as ideals, the community marches forth to be an example of
perfection. But in most cases, all that harmonious marching gets
tripped up pretty quickly. Here are four "perfect" communities
that whizzed and sputtered thanks to human nature. 1. Brook Farm
(or, Ripley's Follow Me or Not) Perhaps the best-known utopian
community in America, Brook Farm was founded in 1841 in West
Roxbury, Massachusetts, by George and Sophia Ripley. The commune
was built on a 200-acre farm with four buildings and centered on
the ideals of radical social reform and self-reliance. For free
tuition in the community school and one year's worth of room and
board, the residents were asked to complete 300 days of labor by
either farming, working in the manufacturing shops, performing
domestic chores or grounds maintenance, or planning the
community's re