
The spirit of Arden encourages all sorts of artistic and intellectual expression and a strong community life. Today, the Ardens remain as single-tax communities at the village municipal level. The conceptual lifestyle of Arden proved so popular that it expanded twice, with Ardentown in 1922 and Ardencroft in 1950. Arden crafts, especially from the Arden Forge and Arden Weavers, became popular in the area. In 1913, the Craft Shop was built, which provided facilities for various artisans. Many people worked in Wilmington or Philadelphia. It took longer to implement the Arts-and-Crafts ideal because the community was so small at first. Shakespeare's plays were produced early in Arden's history to promote better oratory skills among the Georgists and have continued if only as a tradition and form of entertainment. The Georgist Gild no longer exists (ended in 2014), but the Georgists continues to offer courses in Georgist economics to the Ardens and any other interested communities. Many of these events continue today through various community organizations including the Arden Recreation and Community Association (ACRA) and the Arden Club, as well as through some of the village committees for each of the three Ardens. Fairs, pageants, and Arden holidays filled the calendar. From the beginning, Shakespeare’s plays were produced in the outdoor Field Theater. Interest groups and task groups were called gilds rather than committees. The founding of the Arden Club, a volunteer run, community center in 1908 provided an organizational core for community activity. By 1922 there were 148 leaseholders, 100 buildings, 350 summer residents, and 100 winter residents. By 1909, much of the land had been leased, mostly for summer use. People lived the simple life in tents or rustic dwellings. Lots that are nearer to open space or woodlands are assessed a bit higher, while lots nearer main road are assessed a bit lower.Īt first, Arden was a summer community.
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A seven-member board of assessors, elected using single transferable vote to ensure representation of minority viewpoints, divides the County's full assessment of the residential areas of Arden among the individual lots. Most leaseholds are residential, and the land rent is based upon the square footage rather than the improvements upon the land. Arden's tax structure is currently based upon the individual leaseholds. The land is held in a trust, administered by three elected trustees, who have lifelong tenure. Arden is not exempt from New Castle County land taxes, but the buildings within the village are taxed separately for county and school district revenue, while the land is technically one large parcel, and taxed by New Castle County accordingly.
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People are free to improve it as they choose, but the land-lease fee will not increase because of improvements. The leasehold interest in the land has a market value and can be sold. Land in Arden cannot be sold instead it has a renewable 99-year lease. While Kropotkin was primarily an anarcho-communist, many of his ideas regarding social and community living were used by the founders of Arden to advance William Morris' ideas for the return to village life. He advocated a return to craft production, good design, and village life. William Morris, an Englishman, rebelled against modern cities and industry. Followers of Henry George's philosophy of economics created Arden as an experiment in the single-tax idea after a failed attempt to implement Georgism in the entire State of Delaware in the late 19th century. The tax, based on a systematized assessment, would recover both the value of natural resources and public investment for the public, while not impeding labor and capital from profiting from their efforts. and other countries from the 1890s until the 1930s, believed that the best way to raise government money was to tax only the value of unimproved land and the public-created value, like roads, added to the land. The single-tax movement, popular in the U.S. Philanthropist Joseph Fels funded the project. Arden was founded in 1900 by sculptor Frank Stephens and architect Will Price, based on ideas such as Henry George's single-tax, William Morris’s Arts and Crafts principles, and Peter Kropotkin's theories of community.
