Community First! Village

Why it matters: this 51-acre master-planned community, opened in 2015 by Austin nonprofit Mobile Loaves & Fishes, is home to 440 formerly chronically homeless neighbors – and its Community Works micro-enterprises paid residents $1 million in dignified income in 2025 alone. Public golf-cart tours run Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 10:30am-12pm, led by staff and neighbors who walk you through the tiny homes, Genesis Gardens farm, outdoor cinema and art house. It is an honest, unsentimental look at a housing model that cities worldwide now come to study. Tours cap at 12 people and fill weeks out, so book well ahead at mlf.org.