This section is devoted to everything related to the Grow Communities transportation needs and concerns. In here you will find information about our ride-sharing programs, public transportation and the global conversation surrounding sustainable transportation.

6 Reasons to Live at Grow Community

/in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

Grow Community offers a simpler, more intentional lifestyle where you can be mindful of your impact on the environment while focusing on what matters to you most. The nearby shops, restaurants and other amenities of Winslow town center offer convenient “5-minute living.” And with inviting gardens, parks and green spaces, Grow Community makes connections happen: neighbor to neighbor, you to the planet.

1.The Environment

Enjoy the quiet company of woodland trees and an orchard right outside your doors in the Grove; stroll the sprawling central green that gives the Park neighborhood its name. Altogether, sixty percent of these neighborhoods are dedicated to peaceful, inviting natural spaces. Parking is underground, reducing impervious surfaces and putting cars out of sight (where they belong).

 

2.One Planet Living

Our neighborhoods are designed to One Planet principles: ultra-energy-efficient homes, goals for zero emissions and waste, sustainable materials, locally grown food, resource conservation, wildlife habitat and edible landscaping, culture, happiness and health. Add them up and you have a new way to live, focused on a positive future for yourself and your world.

 

3.Solar Power 

Grow Community is the largest solar community in Washington, with every single-family home and duplex powered by photovoltaics, and rooftop solar on many townhomes and condominiums. Solar arrays are offered as a buyer’s option on every home including multifamily. And going solar has never been simpler. With today’s strong financial incentives, your solar array will keep your power bill low and even put money in your pocket, just for doing your part for a cleaner planet.

 

4.5-Minute Lifestyle

Everything your family needs for a healthy, happy lifestyle is within easy distance of Grow Community. Local merchants and grocers, the library, fine cafes and coffee shops, theaters and museums, parks, health clinics and schools … you can reach it all without ever getting behind the wheel.  We call it the “5-minute lifestyle,” and it’s just one of the features that makes Grow such an attractive choice for homebuyers seeking a simpler way of living.

 

5.Community Connections

Harvest your tomatoes and take the extras next door. Read a book under a tree and see who stops to say, “Oh, you’ll love the ending!” Or just take a quiet stroll down a neighborhood path and bump into someone new. Grow Community is designed to promote serendipity, the unexpected meeting, the little connections from which lifelong friendships spring. Grow a community together, and get as involved as much (or as little) as you want.

6.For All Ages

The neighborhoods at Grow have intergenerational living at their heart – because a true community should be as welcoming to a 73-year-old as it is to a 3-year-old. In the Grove and the Park neighborhoods, 60 percent of the homes offer single-level living with elevator access to front entries, while the community spaces invite interaction and sharing between generations year-round. And accessibility extends beyond the neighborhood. You’re just a few minutes from downtown amenities like shops, restaurants and theaters – even ice cream.

______________

We still have room for you in our FINAL HOMES…

Great opportunities to purchase and rent our FINAL HOMES are available in the Grove & Park neighborhoods. Beautifully designed, ultra-efficient 2 bedroom solar ready homes set a new standard for healthy, sustainable living.

Only three 2-bedroom homes remain to purchase in the Tsuga and just 6 in the Sage building.

We also have two homes that have become available to rent in our Juniper building.

Please contact our sales & leasing team for more details and to set up an appointment to tour our available homes: 206.452.6755 [email protected]

A 5 Minute Lifestyle

/in , , , , , , , , , /by

Everything your family needs for a healthy, happy lifestyle is within easy distance of Grow Community. Local merchants and grocers, the library, fine cafes and coffee shops, theaters and museums, parks, health clinics and schools … you can reach it all without ever getting behind the wheel.

We call it the “5-minute lifestyle,” and it’s just one of the features that makes Grow such an attractive choice for homebuyers seeking a simpler, more mindful way of living.

You’ll be amazed by all that’s waiting for you, just beyond your doorstep.
126b1b62-032e-4f78-921e-69ec5bc05f75

One planet, one community, and one goal: a new model for sustainable living.

/in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

Grow Community was founded on the principles of One Planet Living, proving that from design and construction to the choices we make as neighbors, we can live within the productive capacity of the earth.

How are we doing? Find out in our “One Planet Annual Verification Report,” now available for download HERE.

bio_bioopl_colour_rgb_a-01-1024x270

It’s Grow’s report on itself, a self-assessment of our progress toward Health and Happiness, Local Food and Sustainable Water, Culture, and other key indicators of a forward-thinking community.

1planet-reportDid you know:

  • 85 percent of Grow residents say they’re walking more, and 31 percent are biking more, since joining our community
  • More than 65 percent participate in our bountiful shared garden program
  • Every resident in our first neighborhood, the Village, has invested in a home solar system, making Grow the largest planned solar community in Washington State – and still growing as our next two neighborhoods build out!

We’re proud of our success so far, and will strive with our residents to meet the goals of One Planet Living. It’s built into Grow Community by design, and comes with the lifestyle.

Download and read the report HERE, and find out more about what Grow has to offer the earth, and you.

Wishing you health and abundance

/in , , , , , , , , , , , /by

The Grow team would like to express our gratitude for the amazing community of Grow Bainbridge.  On this day of giving thanks we want to let you know that we are truly grateful for all we have learned from everyone who has touched our lives through this community over the last year.

We want to extend a special thank you to all of the new and soon to be residents at Grow.  We are excited, amazed, and humbled by the patience and dedication of the residents who have moved in to this community.  Excited to meet each and every amazing personality, humbled by the commitment to sustainable living, and most grateful for the patience of all who waited so long to move in to their homes.

We wish for all of you a joyful holiday, a day of health and abundance.

All the best,
The Grow Team

Is This The Most Sustainable Neighborhood In The U.S.? – Fast Company

/in , , , , , , , , , , , /by

Fast Company | November 13, 2013 | Adele Peters

A new neighborhood on Bainbridge Island, Washington, has all the aspects of a resilient community–like net zero homes, community gardens, and car sharing–built in from the beginning.

A new urban neighborhood on Bainbridge Island, Washington, is arguably the most resilient–and healthiest–in the entire United States. Grow Community is not the first place to have net zero energy homes, community gardens, carsharing, or any of its other features, but it’s the first community to have all of those features, by design, from its inception.

Each home in the new development, from apartments to single-family homes, can run entirely on solar power. The ultra-efficient buildings are insulated to save energy, and include heat pumps and heat recovery ventilators. Wood siding comes from local, sustainably managed forests. But green buildings are only a small part of the community’s design.

“The average footprint for food and transportation is three times the footprint of a home,” says Jonathan Davis, the architect who led the project. Both were considered as integral parts of the development. The location was carefully chosen to be a short walk or bike ride from the ferry to Seattle or nearby shops. Residents will have access to community bikes and a shared fleet of cars–the first car being a Nissan Leaf that plugs into its own dedicated solar panel. Those moving to the area bringing their own vehicles may want to consider getting a car or motorcycle shipping quote to help them figure out the cost of transporting their vehicles during their busy move.

The homes are bordered by community vegetable gardens and fruit trees, and residents will also have the chance to participate in a working farm within walking distance.

The design also aims to help neighbors actually meet each other. The site is divided up into “microhoods” that are grouped around a common yard, and each of the grouping is connected by a series of pathways. No one can drive home; the parking lot is deliberately remote so that people have to walk home, and have the chance to run into each other. Each home has a front porch, and the common yards have community gardens and other shared spaces for people to interact.

Right now, the development is partially completed–22 out of 24 single-family homes are underway or finished, and construction will begin shortly on two small apartment buildings. Eight homes are occupied. The new residents include the architect and his own family. “Someone recently said it must be like my own personal Sim City, and it is,” Davis says, as he watches his creation unfold.

The development is the first in the U.S. to meet the stringent requirements of the One Planet Living program. “It’s a really big-picture look at sustainability,” Davis says. “In a way, Grow Community provides an easy basis for everyone living there to reduce their environmental footprint.”

Backers see $60M Grow Community as prototype for going super green

/in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

Daily Journal of Commerce
May 20th, 2013

click here to read article

Sustainable Business: Washington state’s largest solar community tests the marketplace

/in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

Puget Sound Business Journal
May 10th, 2013

click here to read article

5 Minute Lifestyle; Sustainable Transportation Options For Residents At Grow Community

/2 Comments/in , , , , , , , , /by

[The following is part of our Five Minute Lifestyle series. Living at Grow Community makes getting out your car easy with all of your local amenities and transportation needs met within a quick 5 minute walk or bike ride away. Our Five Minute Lifestyle posts are dedicated to spotlighting nearby local businesses, transportation options for residents, community resources and the spectacular local attractions of Bainbridge Island and our surrounding community.]

Building a healthy community takes more than just building energy efficient homes. Solar panels on your home and energy efficient appliances are a great start, but it’s only the beginning. There’s a much deeper story to be told. Whole communities are built on the understanding that sustainability is defined not only by physical impacts to our environment, but also by the experience of support, equity and connection for the community’s members. One Planet communities address all aspects of sustainability, from the ecological to the economic and cultural impacts, with social well being and quality of life as a foundation of the concept.

One of the principles behind Grow Community’s One Planet sustainable development model is reducing carbon from transportation. With this principle in mind, we set out to provide several sustainable transportation options for residents of Grow Community to make it easier to live without a car, or with only one family vehicle. Grow Community is a 5 – 10 minute walk (or leisurely bike ride) from downtown Winslow and the ferry to Seattle and the location of the development was carefully chosen to support a lifestyle that isn’t dependent on a vehicle. All of your in-town amenities and transportation needs are close by, and, if you work in downtown Seattle, commuting is easy from Grow.

[Related: 5 Minute Lifestyle; Five Local Food Havens Minutes From Grow Community]

We know that residents will still need a vehicle on occasion, and there is room for each resident to have their own car. But what if you would prefer not to own a car, or need a second car only once in a while? That is when Grow Community’s car-sharing program for residents comes into play. For a small monthly fee residents can opt-in to our Nissan LEAF car-sharing program and book our electric car for trips around town or into Seattle. The car is charged by it’s own dedicated solar panel array and is a 100% emissions free transportation option for Grow Community residents. If interest is high, we will add a number of cars to the car share program, making this a choice that residents can depend on. For those that decide later down the line that they would like their own car but want an electric vehicle, it would be worth consulting with an electrician like those at aardvark-electric.com/areas-we-serve/marietta/ to see if they can have an EV charging station installed.

For the more casual outings, we have community bikes available for our residents. We are providing the bikes as a healthy option to easily get around Bainbridge Island, and we are hoping the bikes will help people explore the community. The bikes, made by Public Bikes, have already been popular with our own project team-a great way to get around town. We hope that no serious incidents occur, but if anyone was to have an accident there are a few things we’d recommend. The main thing would be to call an ambulance or paramedic if it was a serious accident. The second being the need to contact a lawyer if you had a bicycle accident, as you would need someone to represent you if you had a serious injury from someone else’s mistake. Hopefully, no-one will have an accident, but this is just to be on the safe side.

By providing a number of different options for Grow residents to choose low-carbon transportation options, we hope to reduce our overall carbon footprint, create healthy options for getting around town, and demonstrate how sustainable transportation choices can be easy on the pocketbook.

Scroll down to check out some pictures of our new Nissan LEAF and community bikes!

In the picture above you can see Grow Community’s new LEAF with it’s EV Station (on the right) and the solar array which is charging the station (the structure just to the left and behind the vehicle). In the background you can see our three solar powered model homes, now open for public tours. From left to right: The Aria, Ocean and Everett. Read more