THE POCKET NEIGHBORHOOD
Our Design Concept
What is a pocket neighborhood?
Pocket neighborhoods are clustered groups of neighboring houses or apartments gathered around a shared open space — a garden courtyard, a pedestrian street, a series of joined backyards, or a reclaimed alley — all of which have a clear sense of territory and shared stewardship. They can be in urban, suburban or rural areas.
These are settings where nearby neighbors can easily know one another, where empty nesters and single householders with far-flung families can find friendship or a helping hand nearby, and where children can have shirttail aunties and uncles just beyond their front gate.
How is a pocket neighborhood different than a regular neighborhood?
A pocket neighborhood is not the wider neighborhood of several hundred households and network of streets, but a realm of a dozen or so neighbors who interact on a daily basis around a shared garden, quiet street or alley — a kind of secluded neighborhood within a neighborhood.
The wider neighborhood is where you might describe “the red house on the corner of Elm and Main Street”— a local landmark that helps define and give character to a neighborhood. You may know some of these neighbors, but likely not the hundreds that live there. In most neighborhoods, streets are public, yards and gardens are private, but protected semi-public spaces are unusual.
In a pocket neighborhood, neighbors have a shared stake in the common ground they live next to. Because of their watchfulness, strangers are taken note of and children are free to play. Neighbors are on a first-name basis: “Tom and Melissa live across the way.” These are the first ones to call on in an emergency, and the closest to join you for an impromptu order of takeout pizza.
Community sounds good, but does it come at the expense of privacy?
While there are many examples and kinds of pocket neighborhoods, privacy is an essential ingredient that allows residents to have a positive experience of community. In a classic cottage courtyard community, there are several increasingly private ‘layers of personal space’ between the shared commons and the front door: next to the sidewalk is a border of perennial plantings and a low fence with a swinging gate; then the private front yard; the frame of the covered porch with a low railing and flower boxes; and the porch itself, which is large enough to be an outdoor room. Within the cottages, the layering continues with active spaces oriented toward the commons and private spaces further back and above.
To ensure privacy between neighbors, the cottages ‘nest’ together: the ‘open’ side of one house faces the ‘closed’ side of the next. You could say the houses are spooning! The open side has large windows facing its side yard (which extends to the face of neighboring house), while the closed side has high windows and skylights. The result is that neighbors do not peer into one another’s world.
What kinds of people are attracted to live in a pocket neighborhood?
All kinds! Singles, Empty-Nester Couples, Families, the ‘Great Generation’, Baby Boomers, Gen-X and Y, Millennials — anyone who wants to live in a close, tight-knit neighborhood. They are not for everyone, of course. People who want a private, independent lifestyle have many conventional housing opportunities to choose from. But for a growing segment of people who want a stronger sense of community, pocket neighborhoods offer a welcome option.
Why are pocket neighborhoods so important now?
The fabric of social health in our society has been fraying, in part because many people lack networks of personal and social support. Family members can be spread across the country, friends live across town, and neighbors don’t know one another. A listening ear or helping hand is not available when it’s most needed.
Pocket neighborhoods can help mend a web of belonging, care and support. Their protected setting encourages informal interaction among neighbors, laying the ground for caring relationships. An elderly neighbor may need assistance trimming a hedge. Another needs help looking after the kids while going for a short errand, or feeding a cat while away on vacation. Nearby neighbors are the ones most available to respond to daily needs. They are also the ones to hear a story, admire a newly planted garden bed, or reminisce about old times. All of these encounters strengthen webs of support and friendship, which are the basis for healthy, livable communities.
