Sense of Place

I live in a gated communtiy in Naples where unfortunatly sustainable living is not a high priority. When I walk around my community I see very little being done in attempts to be environmentally friendly. I see as many buildings as possible being crammed onto the street, there are retention ponds but who knows if they were designed for the best of the environment or what was best for the community. Basically Stratford is just a straight forward gated community no green buildings, no green design, and little sustainable aspects.

Finding something that Stratford is doing that could be considered sustainable or environmentally friendly was a bit of a challenge but I should give it some credit for the small, tiny, ittybitty steps they are taking. Above in the picture I have outlined an area of the community where they have designated land that is to be protected and not built on. They have it mark off with a sign advising people of a nature preserve and not to enter. My condo backs up to this nature preserve and whenever it rains I can hear the frogs peeping away, it always amazes me too the wall penetrating power those little peeps have. Also there are a ton of rabbits running around the neighborhood and we see the occasional stork by the ponds trying to catch some little fish. Below you will see a picture I was able to take of one of the rabbits in my community.




Stratford also has very nicely maintained landscape,the plants they use to boost the cosmetics of the development however could be seen as a small step in sustainable living. Many of the plants that are used in Stratford are native species such as the Sable Palm and the Cootie (seen below).  This can be seen as being sustainable because native plants are more adapted to the Florida climate so they use less water than a non native.



Another step Stratford is taking to helping reduce is by only allowing two cars per household. This will help to reduce emission, now I do not know if they are doing this for the sake of the environment or because they don't want to have to worry about parking but either way its benefiting the environment.