When people feel as though they belong, they flourish - and in turn, the community will flourish.

The architect who created the idea of pocket home communities, Ross Chapin, recognized this. With homes spaced further out, people can be subject to a sense of seclusion. In today’s fast-paced world, many people are losing their sense of belonging. There are communities that choose to create children’s rooms, which gives the kids a place to play sheltered from the elements during cold or wet seasons. Some communities may opt to create a communal building offering a gathering space for potlucks, exercise groups, or movie nights. With each neighbor helping grow different fruits and vegetables, it allows the stress of a large-scale garden falling on any one member of the community. With more emphasis being placed on the “grow your own food” movement, communal gardens can be created and neighbors can collaborate. The communal tool shed allows people to use what they need and return it. With a community built so closely together, there really isn’t a need for everyone to purchase rakes, lawnmowers, leaf blowers and other garden tools. Some communal areas have a shared tool shed. Children are able to safely play in the communal areas because there are multiple sets of eyes ensuring their safety.

In pocket neighborhoods, the neighbors communicate more and in turn, that makes the community safer when it comes to strangers entering the community. Many neighborhoods have a neighborhood watch program that helps guard against burglary and helps keep children safe. There are some impressive benefits of living in such a community.

Residents in a pocket neighborhood have a shared interest in the common areas, and it becomes a communal effort to maintain them. It’s not a large expanse of hundreds of homes with webs of streets, where neighbors are strangers. Think of a pocket neighborhood as a neighborhood within a neighborhood. It’s a community that still maintains the belief that “it takes a village to raise a child.” These can be in urban or rural areas, and the idea is that neighbors are easily able to get to know each other. This space may be a garden courtyard, a pedestrian road, or a series of combined backyards. Pocket neighborhoods are groups of neighboring houses or apartments that are gathered around a shared, open space.

Homes for sale in pocket neighborhoods