Now That's What I'm Talking About

Today's AZ Republic has an article (once again I'm not impressed with the headline - "Quaint But Not Secure" - I'm thinking of offering my services as a headline writer) that precisely describes the type of community we are trying to foster at Morrison Ranch:

The idea of neighbors waving to each other as they walk to their mailboxes at the end of the driveway seems so retro in the age of identity theft.

Nowadays, many Valley residents walk or drive up to cluster mailboxes at the end of a long day's commute, often never knowing or seeing the owners of the other boxes. They need keys to get their postcards, packages and junk mail, and it seems safer that way.

The Valley used to lead the nation in mail theft, but relinquished that title as locked clusters of mailboxes began to replace the old standard.

"It's really the developers' choice," said Ronda Carrington, spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service in Arizona. "We do, of course, recommend the more secure, locked boxes."

But a few Gilbert developers and neighborhoods have chosen to buck that trend and go retro with the old-fashioned mailbox in front of each house, saying they like the sense of community it creates.

Mailboxes are part of the theme at Higley Groves in the Morrison Ranch development. It's all white picket fences and neat green lawns with sidewalks out front.

Angela Groth spent most of her life in neighborhoods in Louisiana and California where she would rarely see cluster-style mailboxes. And she can't imagine living anywhere other than Higley Groves now.

Groth, a stay-at-home mom with an 8-year-old daughter and 3-month-old son, said she and her neighbors frequently socialize and chat on their front lawns, porches and in front of their mailboxes.

"Sometimes I go out to get the mail and I don't come back inside for 45 minutes," she said.

Now that's what I'm talking about. I've done it, the Mister has done it, I've seen my neighbors do it as I drive by: you go out to get the mail and you see someone, so you wave hello, then you think of a question to ask, and next thing you know you're standing in the green belt chatting for a while. That's called community.

When Morrison Ranch was being designed and the plans were being discussed with the Postal Service back in 1997, the Post Office did not give us the option of whatever mailboxes we wanted: they REQUIRED us to put in individual boxes. The reason? Mail theft. The thieves were coming in late at night, popping the back off the gang boxes (how do you like THAT name? It isn't my name, it's what developers call them. Appropriate, huh?) and stealing the mail in one fell swoop, easy as pie. So the Postal Service was trying to make it more difficult for them. Shea Homes actually came up with our current design of the dual mailboxes on a fencepost, and we really like it.

Thus far, we have had very little mailbox theft (not zero, but very little) in Higley Groves East or West. I use some of the precautions that the Post Office offers: I pick up my mail soon after it comes, I only put mail out shortly before my mailperson comes or I'll drop outgoing mail at the Post Office. And I've seen some of the individual locked mailboxes on my street. Now the Post Office is beginning to change their minds:

Individual, unlocked boxes are not only a security concern but also more work for mail carriers. "Some of these neighborhoods are getting to be so large," she said. "There is a significant reduction in cost for us with the cluster mailboxes. They reduce time and gas expenses."

So now we have the tension of aesthetics and community-building versus the efficiency and cost of the mail carriers. Which is a gentle warning to future residents of Morrison Ranch that the mailbox requirements may change again in the future. But I share the viewpoint of my neighbor (whom I haven't yet met) quoted in the article:

Groth doesn't think the clustered locked mailboxes would be that much safer. "A lot of times they're off on the side of the street where no one is looking," she said. "Here, people would notice if a stranger was messing with the mailboxes. We all know each other and look out for each other."Despite Gilbert's rapid growth, her neighborhood feels like a "small little community. "The sidewalks, the lawns, the porches and the mailboxes all make it easier for neighbors to get together, even picnic on their front lawns, she said. "Sometimes we even laugh and say, 'Oh, we look like a Norman Rockwell picture here,' " she said.

Exactly.