Grow Community a paragon of the ‘New Urbanism,’ Professional Builder magazine says

Public engagement, eco-friendly designs, affordable options, and diversity of home styles and offerings are hallmarks of the New Urbanism, the most significant planning movement of recent times.

Grow Community is a paragon of this forward-thinking ethos, Professional Builder magazine says in its new issue.

 In the article “The Seaside Effect” (a nod to the first New Urbanist community, Seaside, built in Florida in 1980), Pro Builder fetes Grow for such enlightened features as shared pea-patch gardens, energy-efficient construction and rooftop solar power.

Proximity to Winslow town center – just a 5-minute walk from the heart of the neighborhood – allowed project designers and now residents to move beyond the demands of an automobile-centric lifestyle, toward healthier and more sustainable alternatives.

“We didn’t need to provide anything other than a residential fabric,” Jonathan Davis, Grow’s phase 1 architect, tells the magazine.

Read more about how Grow Community measures up to New Urbanist principles in Professional Builder’s July 2015 edition here - see pages 30-35.

New outlines on the Winslow skyline are the shape of progress at Grow Community

Construction on Grow Community’s new phase, the Grove, is moving onward – and upward. The Salal building’s third floor has taken shape, with roof work starting very soon. Next door at the Elan, the second floor is under way.

Concrete work continues elsewhere on the site, the Juniper building is all but complete while the walls, footings and pouring of the Woodland Homes and Tsuga are now well underway.

 With the hot, dry weather of summer upon us, our crews are watering down the site periodically to minimize dust – definitely a challenge, so we ask residents’ and neighbors’ forbearance.

For all the activity around the site, our crews are running up an impressive safety record – 15,000 hours (and counting) without an injury.

Bainbridge Museum of Art Construction Timelapse

Grow now the standard lifestyle of the future

Grow Community as the new standard for future living? You bet.

Grow’s award-winning, net-zero neighborhood will be showcased at Living Future 2015, the annual conference of the International Living Future Institute.

Jonathan Davis, architect for Grow’s first phase, the Village, and project manager Greg Lotakis will be featured speakers at the conference, which runs April 1-3 at the Sheraton in Seattle.

Their presentation is titled “A Built Environment Sets the Stage for Creation of Community.”

“Creating a (successful) community is not a certainty — the ultimate success of it depends on the people who choose to live there,” conference organizers say. “How do you create this place where people WANT to live? Learn how the design of the net-zero energy Grow Community on Bainbridge Island creates the basis for a shared sense of purpose, brings residents together toward common lifestyle goals and creates a strong sense of place and connection within a neighborhood.”

Living Future is a forum for leading minds in the green building movement seeking solutions to the most daunting global issues of our time. Out-of-the-ordinary learning and networking formats provide innovative design strategies, cutting-edge technical information and the inspiration needed to achieve significant progress toward a truly Living Future.

The Grow Community presentation runs 3:15-4:45 p.m. April 2.


Click here for more details

ULI finds Grow Community on its roadmap to healthy neighborhoods

The Urban Land Institute has drawn up its roadmap for healthy development, and Grow Community is a prominent waypoint.



Grow is cited twice in the “Building Health Places Toolkit: Strategies for Enhancing Health in the Built Environment,” an expansive new report on sustainable planning and construction from the ULI. The report looks at developments and communities that have been successful in promoting physical activity, healthy food and clean drinking water, and general social well-being.

Grow’s famous community gardens and “edible landscaping” are cited as a prime amenity in today’s urban and suburban planning.

“Participation in community gardening activities can increase consumption of fruits and vegetables, and when community members come together around the growing of food, the interaction promotes social bonds and connections,” the editors write. “Local produce helps reduce pollution associated with shipping food long distances.”

The ULI notes that gardening has enjoyed a growing popularity across the country, a trend that is expected to continue: “Small farms can take the place of golf courses as community centerpieces, can cost less on an upfront and ongoing basis, and can provide community members with fresh, locally grown food.”

Grow is also touted for earning certification under the One Planet Living program, whose ambitious 10-point goals promote reducing humans’ impact on the earth. You can read all about Grow’s impressive One Planet designation elsewhere on our website.

“Reading a report” might not sound like the most scintillating springtime activity, but the ULI’s new “Building Healthy Places Toolkit” will surprise you – we promise. It’s a very colorful read, and highlights the most forward-thinking work being done in planning and construction today.

View the report here (page 48 online & 40 in print) and find out more about the sustainable vision that earned Grow Community recognition among the very best new neighborhoods anywhere.

Seattle Magazine touts Grow for affordable green living

Seattle Magazine’s special “Best Affordable Neighborhoods” edition is on newsstands now, and Grow Community makes the cut among the area’s best bargains.

In a helpful write-up called “How To Buy Your Dream House In a Competitive Market,” the magazine touts Grow as a premier choice for today’s eco-conscious buyers.

Grow was designed to create an intergenerational urban community that “makes sustainable choices both available and affordable,” Seattle Magazine notes.

The magazine cites Grow’s ultra-efficient, 5-Star Built Green–certified construction, the energy- and cost-saving perk of solar power, and our famous shared community gardens. Sixty percent of homes in our next two phases, the Grove and the Park, will be accessible for intergenerational living.
Read the whole article at www.seattlemag.com.

“It will be a challenge,” Seattle Magazine writes, “but even in the most competitive market, you can snag the perfect house and come out a winner.”

Yes you can – and we’ll help. To learn more about purchase opportunities at Grow Community, email live@growbainbridge.com, or visit our sales office at 180 Olympic Drive SE, just a few steps up from the Bainbridge Island ferry terminal.

100 percent and a gold star – Grow aces the solar test

Already the largest solar neighborhood in Washington state, Grow Community hit another milestone this week.

With the completion of two more solar installations, every single-family home and duplex in Grow’s first phase, the Village, is now powered by photovoltaics.

PV systems numbers 22 and 23 are online and producing renewable energy, improving the neighborhood’s already stellar self-sufficiency while promising generous utility savings and financial returns for the homeowners.

 “It’s a landmark moment for Grow Community and Washington solar,” says Greg Lotakis, project manager. “With 100 percent participation, our residents are really showing the way forward for neighborhoods that want to choose solar for a sustainable energy future.”

Grow’s next two phases, the Grove and the Park, will also offer the solar option. Stay tuned for more details.