Endorsements

Every few years a book comes along that profoundly shifts the way we think about a subject, and when we look back a decade or so after its publication, we see a dramatic shift brought about by the thoughts that book contains. I believe that this book is such a game changer.
—SARAH SUSANKA, author of The Not So Big House

Ross Chapin possesses a Christopher Alexander-like ability to show how all the pieces of a house and a neighborhood can fit together, composing a profoundly satisfying environment.
—PHILIP LANGDON, author, A Better Place to Live: Reshaping the American Suburb, and editor of New Urban News

This revolutionary book will change the way North Americans view new home developments and will help home buyers realize that community is often as important as the house.
TORONTO STAR

Pocket Neighborhoods includes an extensive list of resources and organizations related to urban design and eco-friendly neighborhoods, but this is not a how-to book. It is information and inspiration, a timely discussion as regions grapple with housing density and look for ways to build a sense of community along with every new house, apartment and condo.
—LOS ANGELES TIMES

Superb and sublime — Ross Chapin has described the future of neighborhood-making with his book, Pocket Neighborhoods.
—CHARLES DURRETT, architect, author of Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves

Pocket neighborhoods are essential to healthy and sustainable community design. Ross Chapin's Pocket Neighborhoods book beautifully illustrates historic and new case study designs at a personal and intimate scale that resonates universally. It is an essential primer for everyone passionate about place-based design and living.
—TOM LOW, Director, DPZ Charlotte Architects and Town Planners

Ross Chapin and his development partners in the Pacific Northwest set the standards for beautifully designed and beautifully crafted cottage neighborhoods. Now comes Ross's long-awaited book explaining why and how these neighborhoods work. It's a manual for right-sizing community in America's 21st century.
—BEN BROWN, Principal, Placemakers

Ross Chapin's book, Pocket Neighborhoods, skillfully illustrates numerous success stories showing how to transform individual homes and gardens into a community. As homes get smaller, connection to the public realm has never been more important. This book is a great read for anyone looking for housing solutions that will stand the test of time.
MARIANNE CUSATO, designer, Katrina Cottages & The New Economy Home

Ross Chapin is a master in understanding the importance of 'scale' in creating beautiful and humane communities. His new book is a profound manual of what works to create vibrant pocket communities—essential components of a sustainable future.
—JASON F. MCLENNAN, CEO Cascadia Green Building Council

Pocket Neighborhood is a new term and way of thinking about something we have long known: that even in big cities, most of us seek out a community of people small enough and close enough that we can get to know and loodk after each other. In his new book, Pocket Neighborhoods, Ross Chapin makes a compelling case for why we need small-scale communities of connection.
—THOMAS FISHER
, Dean, School of Architecture, University of Minnesota

My own instinct is that Ross’s work is just what our culture is hungering for right now—a viable way to make life vivid, personal and deeply satisfying, and a sustainable alternative to spread-out suburban sprawl.
ROBERT WALSH, architect, educator

After 30 years as a building developer, I met Ross Chapin. His articulate guidance about how we live together permanently changed how I create places for people to live. With Pocket Neighborhoods, Ross shares his wisdom of how truly wonderful neighborhoods can and should be. This book has come none too soon for every one of us. —MICHAEL MCKEEL, developer

Building a neighborhood is about having a vision and understanding how all the pieces and layers fit together. Skipping over a key detail or two is the difference between a subdivision and a neighborhood. Ross Chapin understands these details and his Pocket Neighborhoods book will give you that understanding too.
—M. CASEY LAND, developer

There is no greater expression of neighborliness than showing kindness to someone you may never know. We can give gifts to strangers in person, of course, but our buildings can do it, too. Imagine what your neighborhood would be like if every home and shop gave a gift to the street! Wouldn’t it encourage you to walk more, where you could savor those gifts, rather than just zipping by in a car?
—Steve Mouzon, architect & planner, The Original Green