Resilience and Sustainability Through Pocket Neighborhoods

Resilience and Sustainability Through Pocket Neighborhoods

The term pocket neighborhood sometimes referred to as “bungalow courts” or “cottage clusters,” was first coined by Ross Chapin of Ross Chapin ArchitectsPocket neighborhoods tend to consist of about 12 homes that all face a common area that residents must walk through to access their front door.  

Creating small homes on small lots allows more compact development, which uses land efficiently and can offer greater access to amenities. 

 

Pocket communities really took off in the Pacific Northwest in collaboration with developers and builders, including The Cottage Company in Seattle, Triad Associates in Kirkland, and Artisan Fine Homebuilding. Third Street Cottages in Seattle, is a community of eight detached cottages located on four standard single-family lots. To help this vision come to life, the municipality adopted an innovative Cottage Housing Development (CHD) zoning code. The code allows for up to double the density of detached homes in all single-family zones.  

Pocket communities also serve as a great solution for increasing the number of affordable units within a municipality. Creating small homes on small lots allows more compact development, which uses land efficiently and can offer greater access to amenities. Residents may also enjoy a smaller mortgage, with the option to enhance their home by selecting higher-end finishes. Then there’s the increasing value of these small homes. The Third Street Cottages, the first of the pocket neighborhoods, have resold for as much as 250 percent of their original price, proving their enduring appeal and value.

Small homes feed our recent fascination with resilience and sustainability because they meet the needs of communities that wish to increase density and reform land use patterns without losing the feel of a single-family community. Smaller homes also can reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions through the use of passive solar energy, low water-use fixtures, and the abundance of vegetation in these communities found in the interior courtyard, personal gardens and surrounding open space. Additionally, the demographic shift toward smaller households and the rise in single-person households is driving a need for a more diverse housing stock that includes small homes.

Tiny Houses for Women, By Women

Tiny Houses for Women, By Women

The Whittier Heights tiny house village consists fo 15 colorful tiny homes that house women who have experienced homelessness.
“Located on city-owned land, it is one of nine tiny-house villages in Seattle that serve as emergency shelters for the city’s homeless population. It is operated by the Low Income Housing Institute, which develops and operates housing for low-income and homeless people in Washington state. Each house costs about $2,500 to build, and the labor is mostly provided by volunteers.”
This particular village was also built by a team dozens of women in the trades from across the state, who came together as the Women4Women project. Creator of this project, Alice Lockridge, hoped to make a space for tradeswomen to come together and make a difference while also finding camaraderie and a break from their male-dominated workplaces. Read the full article from YES! Magazine here.
Planning Your Tiny House

Planning Your Tiny House

Our very own Laura Elfline has a published article in Natural Awakenings!

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“With awareness and advance planning, building your tiny home can be a great experience and can result in enjoyment of your home for years to come.”

Tiny homes have never been more popular. Whether they are built to be mobile or as permanent accessory dwelling units, individuals are increasingly interested in building their own small structures as a way to provide affordable housing, guest quarters, rental income, or simply a lifestyle unencumbered by the caretaking required by a larger home and the objects that fill it. Considering a few key issues before setting out to build a tiny house can help support a successful outcome and increase satisfaction with the finished dwelling. Check out the full article: Planning Your Tiny House pdf