Tulips so bright, I could hardly believe my eyes! Walkable neighborhood, with trees, flowers and paths “New urbanism” is the model
Takelma Way winds its way between Tolman Creek Road and Clay Street. It is a quiet neighborhood, with the houses built in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I walked Takelma Way once in February, when deciduous trees were bare and front yards were low key. I walked the street again in April and found the neighborhood ablaze with bright colors, both the street trees and the yards. I captured a bit of that colorfulness for you in my photo essay of Takelma Way.
Takelma Way meets Clay Creek Way. There is a neighborhood pocket park here.Here is the attractive pocket park at the corner of Takelma Way and Clay Creek Way.Several Takelma Way houses have wisteria vines. This one with a south-facing front yard was filled with blooms in mid-April, while wisteria on north-facing house-fronts lagged behind.It takes a close look to see how amazing wisteria flowers can be.
There are 61 houses in the Clay Creek Gardens HOA (homeowners association), which encompasses Takelma Way, Clay Creek Way and Mickelson Way. The neighborhood was built following the principles of “new urbanism.” The HOA website describes new urbanism as “a concept that encourages walkable communities, compact design with a focus on smaller lots, extensive shared community spaces and homes that encourage neighbors to interact with each other.” Practically speaking, the houses have covered front porches that face the sidewalk to encourage communication with neighbors who are out for a walk. There are narrow streets with wide sidewalks, so it doesn’t feel like cars dominate the space. The architecture of the houses is not “cookie-cutter,” but encompasses a variety of styles. There is even a neighborhood community garden where people can have a plot for growing vegetables.
A variety of house styles
This one-story house has a large front porch near the sidewalk. Here’s a two-story house with a full front porch and garage around the back.The narrow streets, parkrows and sidewalks make it a pedestrian friendly neighborhood.This simple front porch still encourages conversations with the neighbors.A fancy looking, large two-story house is part of the same planned neighborhood.
Takelma Way paths
Two ways to encourage community are with walking paths and with Little Free Libraries. This is an unofficial Little Free Library on one of the walking paths that connects with Clay Street. Here is another walking path to Clay Street, lined with colorful flowering trees in April. What a pleasure to walk this path!
Siskiyou School is across Clay Street at the end of one path (left photo). The pathway bridge over Clay Creek is shown in the right photo. Here is a 30-second video I took as I walked a path from Clay Street back to Takelma Way.
Let’s look at unique yard art
Someone loves seashells and peace on earth.Who remembers Jack LaLanne?I can’t figure out if this yard art is a celebration of camping, of snow and winter sports, or both. Whatever it is, it’s cute.The guardians are watching at the door.Sometimes you have to look closely to find hidden gems.
Tulip time (and other bright colors)
Maybe I arrived at this front yard at just the right day (April 20) at just the right time (5:24 p.m.). It doesn’t require a full field of flowers to take my breath away. Something about the brilliance of the colors of these four tulips, and the variety of the colors side by side, stopped me in my tracks in wonder. Wonder and appreciation for Mother Nature, for the Creator of Life, and for the Gardener of this humble front yard. Here is my second-favorite photo I took of the four tulips. (I won’t bore you with all the others I took and reluctantly let go.)Different colors, beautiful composition of the tulips, azalea and camellia flowers.Here is a dramatic white flowering fruit tree.I love the contours of this gate, framed by greenery and backed by a bounteous pink flowering fruit tree.
“Enchantment Grows Here”
A small but enchanting corner of one yard.
This small, beautiful, carefully planned space was created by Kim Knoll. I love the way she has combined a variety of shapes and sizes of plants with rocks, yard art, colorful pots, and that stone bench to anchor it all. Though her house address is on Michelson Way, this section of her side yard is on Takelma Way, so I am including it in this article.
Here is an overview of her “enchanting” space.Here is another detail from Kim’s unique garden.Clay Creek flows along the side of the neighborhood, and is accessed by several paths between Takelma Way and Clay Street.
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