Alternative Living in Arcosanti, Arizona

Arcosanti is an experimental town roughly a hour north of Phoenix. It was originally constructed by an architect, Paolo Soleri, who hoped to find balance between the resources of an environment and the humans who called it home. I didn’t even know the area existed until a friend in LA took a trip there and highly recommended it.

Arcosanti hosts tours every single day of the week (except for federal holidays) and they even have opportunities to rent a guest room for those who would like to experience what it’s like living on the grounds. That’s right; there are people who call the town their full-time home.

If you’re heading up from Phoenix, you’ll spend most of the ride on the Black Canyon Freeway portion of I-17.

Once there, you learn about how the community attempts to innovate when it comes to things like water and energy consumption as well as the production of locally grown food. Those who give the tours are residents and many of them are also artists.

Arcosanti has a cafe for visitors that is open for breakfast and lunch on Mondays, as well as Thursdays-Sundays. All of the cafe items are made on-sight. Arcosanti also hosts workshops, volunteer opportunities, and other events that the public can attend.

At the end of the tour, you’re allowed to explore the grounds a bit. If you stay overnight, you can enjoy hikes, an outdoor pool, and stargazing at night. So, keep Arcosanti in mind if you’re looking for an off-the-beaten path kind of lodging experience.

A huge part of how Arcosanti sustains itself financial is through the sale of bronze and ceramic windbells. You get a glimpse into all the steps it takes to make them by hand during the tour.

While there, you learn that much of what is currently constructed at Arcosanti was done by previous volunteers and workshop attendees. We also learned that apparently Olivia Rodrigo sang here as part of a movie filming.

At the end of the tour, you can buy the handcrafted bells as well as an assortment of other items such as art and clothing. I’m usually tight-handed when it comes to my wallet, but I remember there was a quirky clothing item there that I considered buying for quite some time before deciding to hold on to my coin.