Announcing GROWdrinks 2 - JUNE 7th at 7 pm!

Join Us For GROWdrinks Part 2 On June 7th! 

 

Our first GROWdrinks was a huge success so we would like to make this a monthly event.  We hope you can join us for our second GROWdrinks on Thursday, June 7th from 7-9pm.

If you're thinking about living at the Grow Community - or are interested in learning more, and would like to meet others who are interested as well - join us for a positive evening of connection:  drink some wine, eat some cheese, and partake in some stimulating conversation. If you are interested in connecting, please RSVP here and mark the date on your calendar!

Where?

The festivities will be taking place at OfficeXPats in the Pavilion on Bainbridge Island. We'll be meeting from 7 - 9 pm and are really excited to meet everyone and talk about the Grow Community! Check out the map below for directions and if you're coming from Seattle, go here for the ferry schedule. 

OfficeXPats is located at: 

403 Madison Ave. N, Ste. 240

Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

Can't make it?  UPCOMING GROWdrinks DATES:  July 12th and August 9th. You can sign up here for our newsletter if you're interested in future events and news from the Grow Team. 

See you next week! 

Grow Team 

Share Common Ground

More boomers are opting for smaller neighborhoods with a bigger sense of community

by: Sally Abrahms | from: AARP Bulletin | May 7, 2012

 

 

 

Pocket neighborhoods are small on space but big on community. — Photo by Misha Gravenor

Rosemary Fowler calls them "the parade of gawkers." Every night after dinner, as she sits in the white wicker chaise on her front porch, she sees them stream by to check out her cozy neighborhood-in-the-making.

See also: Pocket neighborhood slideshow.


The Carmel, Ind., nurse, 56, is not surprised that her sunny yellow house, and the seven other two-story cottage-style homes in various stages of completion, are attracting attention. Instead of a street separating the $225,000-to-$400,000 homes that face one another, a landscaped courtyard divides them. Visitors walk to the front door of each home through a common walkway.

Although the houses are clustered together, their layouts ensure privacy: The houses may be close, but if one has large windows on one side, the wall of the house next door will be windowless. Each cottage has a picket fence in front.

Eventually, the development, called Inglenook, will have 27 cottages in groups of six or eight ranging from 1,000 to almost 2,200 square feet.

Fowler, who bought the small three-bedroom home and shares it with her best friend, Becky Meadows, 60, has not regretted her move from her bigger house and yard. "This is beautifully designed, easier to maintain and gives me more time to get to know my neighbors," she says.

Not that there are any yet. Fowler and Meadows are the new kids on the block in fact, the only kids in Indiana's first pocket neighborhood. Developer Casey Land is writing new contracts, so it's only a matter of time before Fowler will chat with neighbors hanging out on their porches. "I'm going to be part of a close-knit community where people look out for one another, socialize and when needed, take care of each other," says Fowler. "I fell in love with the concept."

A what?
Chances are, you will be hearing more about pocket neighborhoods. This increasingly popular housing option generally consists of a dozen or so compact houses or apartments that share common or green space. That might be a pedestrian walkway, garden, courtyard or shared backyard or alley. Central mailboxes give neighbors even more opportunities to interact.

Backyards are typically small, with the focus on the front especially those porches. Usually, pocket homes have an open floor plan and are newly constructed, but could also be in an existing enclave. Regardless, they are tucked into "pockets" of a neighborhood or part of a larger new development, often near walkable destinations like shops and restaurants.

Parking, you ask? Pockets may have a separate parking area or attached garages, but they deemphasize the automobile mentality, where drivers pull into garages and disappear into houses until it's time to hop back into the car. Instead, the architecture emphasizes forming relationships with neighbors.

Click here to read the rest of this article

Status on the Construction Site: Foundations

Each week we get a bit closer to seeing what our new homes will look like. Last week we completed the concrete foundations for the first three model homes along Grow Avenue. Framing of the homes will begin next week while site work continues for utilities and driveway into the community.

A Visit from Pooran Desai, Co-founder of BioRegional

Pooran Desai, Co-founder of BioRegional and International Director of One Planet Communities visited with our Grow Community team today.