Spring Reading

Architect Ross Chapin’s Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating small-scale community in a large-scale world (The Taunton Press, $30) offers a charming and inspiring antidote to sprawl in the form of small-scale, infill neighborhoods that foster a sense of community. A foreword by Sarah Susanka examines the pocket neighborhood’s place in contemporary housing trends, and Chapin follows up with a historical look at shifts in the scale of community in America over several generations. An exploration of historic precedents for pocket neighborhoods ranges from 15th-century Dutch almshouses to early 20th-century Southern California cottage courtyards. Chapin moves on to a discussion of contemporary pocket neighborhoods and cohousing communities around the world, offering a series of design keys to highlight the essential principles of planning and designing pocket neighborhoods.