Smaller is the new black among architects in-the-know.

“Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating Small Scale Community in a Large Scale World” by Langley architect Ross Chapin has just been published by Taunton Press and is available in local bookstores.

The book is already making waves with a full page feature story in USA Today and many rave reviews. Sarah Susanka, author of the best-selling “Not So Big House” series of books, wrote the foreword.

“We created a website to dovetail with the book, providing an intro to the ideas, a blog, and resources to go into more depth,” Chapin said.  (Visit www.pocket

neighborhoods.net to see an audio slide show and other details about pocket neighborhoods and the book.)

The first “pocket neighborhood” Chapin designed and co-developed was the Third Street Cottages in Langley, which he began in 1997 following Langley’s cottage housing zoning ordinance, the first of its kind in the United States.

Susanka and Chapin recently presented the book and its ideas at the National Smart Growth Conference in Charlotte, N.C.  Next month, Chapin will present at the Congress for New Urbanism in Madison, Wis. and give the plenary keynote address at the National Co-housing Conference in Washington, DC.

Locally, he will talk about the book and its ideas at Whidbey Children’s Theater in Langley from 7:30 to

9:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 8.  He will show photographs of pocket neighborhoods from around the world, talk about historic precedents and contemporary examples, and describe design patterns that foster a sense of community. There will be time to engage in conversation about vibrant, resilient communities and to sign books.  This benefit for the South Whidbey Commons requests a $5-$10 donation.