Higley Groves West Ruminations

The Parkway


This 200 acre development followed hard on the heels of its eastern counterpart, starting construction in 2000. We sold the property to Morrison Homes (no relation) and they in turn sold part of the neighborhood to Greystone and part to Glen Alden. Then Glen Alden went out of business, and the large lots on the north sat idle for a while. In the end, Trend built there. Morrison Homes had their engineers prepare the plan, and we had problems with getting basins in parks like we would like them. This had also happened on the east side, with the retention basins along Higley Road being in the “wrong” place; but we were not in a position to change that. This deepened our resolve to do the final plat and improvement plans for the next project ourselves.

Even though we designed both sides of Higley Groves to work together, they were sold and developed separately. So Shea designed the plaque for the Higley Groves monuments, and we had to get their permission to use them on the west. And each community has separate HOA’s, so technically, the east can’t jog on the trails in the west and the west can’t play basketball on the courts of the east. (But I haven't seen anyone checking ID cards.) The west has huge open spaces under the power lines and against the canal, but we still felt it was important to have internal parks, so it has the highest percentage of open space. The western basin is due to the flood plain the government shows on its maps, which probably isn’t there in reality, due to the huge flood control channel now east of Power, but we are protected anyway.

Building the west side triggered the need to improve the landscaping around Grandma’s house, since it was a little rustic at the time. The Shea people referred to it as “Camp Morrison”. So we put in sprinklers and a parking lot in back, and widened the road in front; that then triggered the need to replace Grandma’s roses with new “Grandma’s roses”. Have you ever started a “simple” project, only to watch it expand and expand? Next came the walkway around the house, since the colored concrete had shifted in a couple of places, making large ledges that were just waiting to trip the unsuspecting pedestrian. But to replace it with the same colored concrete would have required pulling out the front porch and all its footings, along with the front planter boxes. So we chose to cover it with a gray slate stone. Lately, the First Cousin and I have been discussing a few changes to the interior…

Of course, I am most familiar with the day to day issues involving Higley Groves West because the Mister and I moved there in November of 2000. We now have about a 30 second commute to the office, if we drive. I have to say that the community has attracted just the kind of neighbors I would have hoped for; friendly, involved, family-oriented, and fun. It’s a great neighborhood.