A “Pocket Neighborhood” is the style of neighborhood that we think will be a desirable model for us to pursue. Each family will own their own house and land, as well as a share in all the common areas. We do not want to follow the traditional American model of housing developments, but instead want to have a small community where we interact with our neighbors frequently and where we live in modest homes with shared community facilities.
Here are a few ideas from other communities: In most neighborhoods, the houses are smaller and clumped together to allow for maximum shared spaces. Notice that parking is centralized and walking is encouraged.
Ross Chapin is a renouned architect who coined the term “Pocket Neighborhood” His book, Pocket Neighborhoods has given us many ideas and guidance in our neighborhood development. Here is a link to his website: Pocket Neighborhoods Creating Small Scale Community in a Large Scale World. Marla has purchased a copy of the book which is being shared (passed around) in our group.
