Ross Chapin Pocket Neighborhood

I’ve always been a bit of an envision-er (read: dreamer) when it comes to my future. I can project what I want the future to look like and work towards that goal. Sometimes my vision comes to fruition and sometimes it changes. Lately, I’ve been envisioning my future living in a small-ish house surrounded by other small houses set around a community garden and fire pit. This vision is a place where neighbors work equally together, hang out in the lush community edible garden, and sing songs around a roaring fire. Maybe that’s just the hippy in me trying to get out. But my focus is where I want to live through retirement; a community where neighbors help neighbors.

As I shared this vision with my spouse, he quickly slapped a dose of reality on me and said, “There’s no such place. You’re dreaming of utopia. It doesn’t work.” His words weren’t quite as harsh as he chuckled at the thought of himself tending vegetables in a commune-style living arrangement. (See links at the end of this post for some close fits of this style of living.)

I personally don’t know of any community where this style of living is occurring, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Living in a neighborhood where your neighbors are helpful seems beneficial on many levels, especially as we inch closer to retirement.

First, let me explain that this would be a community that I’d want to grow into with like-minded, similar aged people. It isn’t necessarily where I’d want to move to during my retirement years. Growing old with people you know is comforting on some levels; you have a history with those neighbors and would more likely than not  have deep, meaningful conversations well into old age.

The benefits of finding a small-ish house in the perfect neighborhood would mean the house would potentially be paid off in full by the time we were 65, a definite plus during retirement. As income becomes finite, the bills need to be finite as well. Having a mortgage payment or even rent isn’t ideal.

Tending a garden with others could mean less work (hopefully!) for the same amount of bounty. It would also keep us healthy by adding fresh fruit and veggies to our diet at a minimal price. The exercise would be an excellent way to keep health costs low, an important consideration during retirement.

Sharing common land would mean lower costs and less work for maintaining a lawn.  As people get older, it gets harder to keep up the benefits of outdoor space. Sharing the space would mean sharing the expense, even if it means hiring gardeners to tend to the lawn as we aged.

As people get older, it’s not uncommon for their mobility to be reduced. If I lived in a collaborative neighborhood, we could share the expense of an occasional cab ride or combine our shopping lists and have groceries delivered.

All of these sound like terrific benefits to living in an “utopian” style community, especially with retirement in mind. The closest I’ve found are pocket communities designed by Ross Chapin Architects. I’ve posted about this designer before and I love his home designs. This might be a future possibility.

Though these may not discuss specific neighborhoods, these additional resources share some ideas that I’ve explained in my ideal community:

• Wasatch Community Garden
• Green Towns
• Inhabitat
• Sponsored by Inhabitat: Re-Burbia (this is what I envision in my ideal neighborhood – shared backyards!)

What’s your vision of retirement? Neighborhoods?

Fresh & Easy Market

Fresh & Easy grocery market’s have been popping up all over my neighborhood, but I just haven’t had the opportunity to explore them. Until now. Yesterday, my husband and I decided to explore their produce and packaged dinners since I had heard they offer a lot of prepackaged, easy to make meals. Since I’m always rushing around, and I don’t cook (yes, you read that right; I don’t cook!), I figured I’d find something I’d like that would be easy to make – read: Microwavable!

I was pleasantly surprised to find their groceries were fresh, reasonably priced, and they offered a lot of variety. Some examples of their prices:

• 10 lb bag of Idaho Russet Potatoes: .98 cents (right now potatoes are on sale in many local markets, but this beat out large chain prices by .02 cents)
• 5 lb bag of oranges: .98 cents
• bananas: .19 cents each
• Swirled raisin, cinnamon bread: 1 loaf – $1.50 (on sale – they offer 50% off of packaged meals that are expiring that day or items that are quickly approaching their “sell by” date).
• Premade Penne pasta with creamed tomato sauce: 1 serving $1.99

This is just a smattering of items I purchased. But as you can see, their prices are quite reasonable, especially their 50% off sale items. As long as you’re willing to consume the item within a day or two, you don’t need to worry about food poisoning (and most grocery stores’ expire date can be pushed a few more days anyway. – My husband’s family used to own a grocery store when he was in high school, so I have some insider information here.)

Checking out is also quite easy since it’s a do-it-yourself type checkout stand, and personally, I love these stands (major chains have installed a couple of these, but limit its use to 15 items per person). I can scan items quite quickly and have my husband help me bag them at the end of the end of the revolving belt. I even find it sort of fun, but that’s probably because I’m strange.

Now that I’ve had my first shopping experience at a Fresh & Easy, I’m sure I’ll be returning soon.

Do you have Fresh & Easy Market’s appearing in your neighborhood?

I should preface this by saying, thanks to my husband. Without him, I’d still be inundated under piles of boxes! Yet, less than two weeks after our move, most everything is in it’s “place” and unpacked. All that’s left is selling our boxes and moving pads, as one moving “package”, on Craigslist.com to recoup some of the expense and reorganizing the storage unit to see if we can get rid of it altogether.

A summary of pros about my new place:

• It’s very quiet for an apartment (although as I’m typing this, I heard some screaming outside!)…I may have just jinxed myself.
• Closer proximity to stores and restaurants.
• Large, with lots of counter space, kitchen. I actually have a lot of small kitchen appliances on my counters that I haven’t seen in years, like the bread maker!
• Laminate floors throughout most of the apartment for when the cats puke – less carpeted area for them to stain.
• A whole other bedroom for a guest room that is clean and well organized.

Some cons that I didn’t take into consideration:

• I still haven’t really figured out where to park my bike. For now it’s on my vehicle bike rack.
• I didn’t realize how much traffic there was in this area. Moving to a more “residential-type” area made me think there would be less traffic. However, I guess most people commute to and from work making prime times even more congested. I also didn’t factor in living near a college creates more pedestrian traffic, not to mention the lights are horribly timed.
• I’m still figuring out where all the stores are – like the donut shop! Every now and then on a Sunday I like to pick up a donut for breakfast to go with my Starbucks coffee. And let me just add that Starbucks does sell donuts, but for twice the price!

Now if only I could kick this cold or flu or whatever I have so that I could enjoy the new, more bike-friendly, neighborhood I’d be set.

Town A: Deodar cedars on White Oak. Remember the scene in ET when they fly over trees on their bikes? This is the street.

The Deodar cedars line the sleepy street of White Oak to the north of where I live. The trees tower many feet over the well-manicured homes, set back far from the street. The wide avenue, built to handle plenty of cars, sees but only a few with one single stop sign at the end of the block. A couple walks their small, white toy poodle down a quiet residential sidewalk covered in a blanket of pine needles.

Five miles south on the same block renowned for its cedar trees (yet are predominately lacking), I look out my window and see a beater van parked indefinitely outside of my home. A group of five men from the nearby wayside house, quietly disguised behind a large, black fence, saunter down the sidewalk. The alley where I enter and exit from my garage is riddled with graffiti of the unattractive kind.

Though only five miles apart, the scenes from my current neighborhood and the one I grew up in are worlds apart. The “Valley”, once known as a rustic get-away for the celebrities of yester-year, has grown into a hodge-podge of seedy neighborhoods intermixed with a “good” pocket every now and again. The valley is perplexing; a large, flat sprawling suburb built on a seemingly-endless grid system bordered with rolling hills and mountains. Without the obvious barriers, the cities merge into one another with barely a marker to distinguish you’ve entered into a new zip code.

But why is one town so well taken care of, while another just a few miles away without any geographic barriers, has become a dumping ground for litter, graffiti and over-grown lawns?

Due to the lack of physical barriers, cities seem to define themselves through subtle cosemetic differences: graffiti and litter,or statues, pergolas, and renovated shopping centers built to attract consumers willing to spend. Since I’m not a city counsel member, I can only assume a city’s budget and income are dependent on property tax, and the concept that the community will continue to generate income within its own city.

A few things I’ve noticed that may be directly related to the differences between these two towns (I’ll call them town A and town B) are:

Town A:

• A small, well-maintained business center reminiscent of the 1950′s. Though many stores have closed due to the recession, the landlords haven’t allowed strip clubs or Triple-X stores to open in their place. The town recently built a statue and seating area at the beginning of the 4-block district under a giant Deodar Oak to show their dedication to their small, yet clean business area. One can tell the residents pride themselves on these four blocks – very rarely do you see graffiti.
• Well maintained lawns. During the real estate boom, this area increased in price by a near 4-fold. Even though this area has been hit hard by the drop in prices, there aren’t very many homes for sale or overgrown lawns. Either people have lived in these homes a long time, or the people able to afford these homes are doing okay financially. I assume this area is financially stable.
• Renovated shopping center. Over the past few years, the city took a very old, vacant shopping center and completely renovated it making it the center shopping district complete with grocery store, home store, and plenty of fast-food restaurants. (The high school kids love it.)
• A renowned high school. It’s funny, I graduated from this very same high school many, many years ago. However, it has since turned into a well-respected charter school that is the envy of all who can’t get their kids into it.
• Movies filmed: E.T. was filmed all over Town A from the trees you see in the photo above to the homes being built in the surrounding hills in the late 1970′s early 1980′s. Fast Times at Ridgemont High car scenes were filmed in Town A’s business district.

Town B:

• A run-down business district. Back in the 1950′s, the area near my house was one of the first bustling business districts of the valley. Unfortunately, time has not been very good to this center. Riddled with graffiti, burned out buildings, and corner payday loan offices, the business district lacks a cohesive purpose.
• Over-grown lawns and vacant homes. During the bubble, prices in my area peaked over $500,000. I feel terrible for the people who purchased homes at these prices considering the area really isn’t deserving of those prices. I’m beginning to think they feel bad for themselves as well, as many have walked away from their homes.
• Corner Mini-Marts. Sprinkled at almost every busy intersection is a mini-mart. Great for a quick soda. Not so good for a community. How many liquor stores does one city need?
• Low-income apartment buildings for blocks on end. People from every economic level need a place to live. Unfortunately landlords often associate low income with low maintenance; uncared for properties quickly become the target for graffiti, broken windows, and littered lawns only further depressing an already depressed area.
• Movies Filmed: Boogie Nights was filmed on a busy street in Town B. The television show My Name is Earl was filmed extensively around my neighborhood as well. (Note the glaring difference?!)

What are the solutions for town B? Obviously, the economy picking up steam would help; fewer people leaving the area would fill the vacant homes. Home owners tending to their lawns and cleaning up the graffiti would also be a positive movement. I’ve found that if graffiti is painted over immediately in an area, the tagger usually moves on to another area that doesn’t seem to care as much.

Perhaps I need to make it a point of walking up and down my alley painting over graffiti-covered walls. Maybe I need to begin picking up litter within a 1-mile block range; my initiative alone could cause a much larger change by encouraging my neighbors to do the same. This may be my Labor Day Weekend goal.

What changes have you seen in your town? What is the solution? Is there anything you could do to help?

Oxnard Harbor

About a year ago, my husband and I began discussing moving into a neighboring county. We have lived in Los Angeles County for many years (I’ve practically lived here my whole life) and are disappointed in the way the city is declining, i.e. graffiti, traffic, bumpy roads, too many people squished into a few hundred square miles. We also are tired of the scorching, dry summers. So, I began investigating nearby cities and counties. Using BestPlaces.net as a jumping off point, we narrowed down our search to San Diego, Santa Clarita, and Oxnard/Ventura. Each of these areas cost about the same, give or take a few dollars, than where we live based on the cost of living index Best Places offers.

Based on the data from BestPlaces.net, we decided to research these three cities for the reasons listed below:

• San Diego – Amazing climate, quaint downtown districts,  and cultural diversity.
• Santa Clarita – Affordable housing (compared to our neighborhood), excellent city planning with paseos and bike paths, new neighborhood amenities, proximity to mountains and hiking.
• Oxnard/Ventura – Amazing climate, affordable housing (in some areas – not all), laid back atmosphere, quaint downtown districts, less dense population.

Last summer, we drove nearly four hours to San Diego. We absolutely loved the climate, but we just weren’t jiving with the city itself. It was much hillier than I thought it would be, not great if I hope to increase my daily bike riding. It also seemed like it was a city made up of “pockets” of neighborhoods. One moment we felt like we were in a slum, the next in a very prestigious neighborhood made up of million dollar homes. We just couldn’t find the right neighborhood that really caught our attention (and that was affordable enough for us to live within our means!)

After our San Diego trip, we realized we might feel more “at home” if we stuck closer to home. Just a mere 30 minutes north of us is the Santa Clarita Valley; a community made up of a few cities such as Valencia, Canyon Country, and Newhall. I lived there briefly right after college and thought it would be a good place to check out. The home prices and cost of living are just slightly less than where we currently live, so it seemed like a possible match. Within 20 minutes of driving around Santa Clarita’s mostly new housing developments and endless mini-malls, we felt it was much too “corporate” and built up for our liking. There was a very commercial feel about the whole community that just didn’t set well with us. The city has definitely grown since I lived there 10 years ago! Any “character” (a very subjective definition) that the town once had, has disappeared into endless cookie-cutter style homes.

This weekend, with my Spring Break ending, we decided to head North-West towards Ventura County, our final destination. Forty-five minutes off the 101 FWY, we exited near Oxnard – Camarillo, not quite sure where we were, and headed north west on Lewis Road. We drove past endless strawberry fields and fruit stands; a completely different environment than what we are accustomed to. We finally came to Port Hueneme and headed towards the Channel Islands harbor. We initially liked the overall laid-back feel to the city. We drove into the harbor and sand dunes passing million-dollar homes (quite reasonable for beach-side living!) and my husband got the chills! He so badly wants to own a boat (this, I’ve told him, he’ll have to wait on!) After driving into the historic old downtown, past red-bricked store fronts and FREE parking (this got us excited – free parking!) we realized this could be a town we could live in. Driving 10 minuted farther north along the shoreline, we ended up in historic downtown Ventura; antique store fronts lined with boutique restaurants and more FREE parking! I also made a mental note, there were plenty of painted bike lanes on most streets, and I saw many parked bicycles outside of store fronts. This is an encouraging sign. Our next step is to plan an entire weekend discovering the best Oxnard and Ventura neighborhoods.

As excited as I am about our potential move, I have to be realistic: there aren’t ANY teaching jobs in Ventura County. My husband could easily relocate his web and graphic design business, but for me this could mean a very long drive, or a potential loss of income. More research still needs to be done on my part!

Have you recently relocated? Have you been thinking about moving? What is holding you back?