Welcome

Welcome to 'Docktowners', a site for people that call Docktown Marina home.

Feature

Serve on Redwood City Boards or Committees

Feb 21, 2008 There are 30 currently opportunities to serve on one of 11 Redwood City boards, commissions, or committees. Right now, Redwood City is seeking applicants for appointment to a variety of its boards, commissions, and committees. This is a really great opportunity for interested City residents to become directly involved in participating in City government and serving the community. How does one of these sound?...

Marina Safety

Docktown: A Floating Community

Many people bemoan the lack of community in the majority of our modern neighborhoods. People drive into their electric garage door opener-equipped garages and never meet their neighbors. Front porches have largely disappeared. People don't talk to each other. Docktown residents have a strong sense of community for a handful of reasons. First, a single gangway that leads from the parking lot to the floating home docks serves many homes. This means that there's really no way to avoid your neighbors. You have to talk to them! Second, living on the water has some inherent risks. When you live in a house that could sink if something catastrophic happens, you really hope your neighbors are watching out for you. It's as simple as "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours". Third, not many people know about floating homes. Our choice of lifestyle is somewhat unique, so we can relate to each other. It's nice to be able to talk to people who understand what living on the water is like.

All of this adds up to a sense of community that is becoming increasingly uncommon on land. We appreciate our community, and want to grow and nurture it.

Environmental Responsibility

Clean water is something that Docktown residents take very seriously.In fact, no one wants clean water more than us, because we live on the stuff. We float on top of it every day, and our backyards consist solely of seawater. Who in their right mind would want a sewage dump in their backyard? Not us. Because of this, the residents meet regularly to talk about environmental issues, improve conditions, and create task forces. We organize clean-up days and pull shopping carts and trash out of the Creek and dispose of it properly.

Affordable Housing

Floating homes are an excellent form of affordable housing for one simple reason: No land cost. For example, in my old neighborhood—the "Professorville" area of downtown Palo Alto—it was commonplace forresidential houses to be bought for three quarters of a million dollars. These houses were then immediately torn down so that the real house could be built. Basically, we're talking about $750K for a 3/16 acre patch of dirt. How many people in the Bay Area can compete for housing on that level? Floating homes are an excellent alternative. Sure, there are trade-offs, but the fact is an excellent quality floating home can be built for the same price as a fixer condo in a developing neighborhood. Which leads us to...

Well-Built Homes

Yes, there are some sketchy boats in Docktown. But the trend over the last five years or so has been the construction of high-quality floating homes—houses built to land standards and beyond. The bottom line is that owners who invest well over $100K building their houses are generally not interested in shoddy construction or living in a modern-day shantytown. Well-built houses are a trend that has been encouraged by the Docktown management. Almost all of the recently-built floating homes at Docktown have been constructed by Arny Messersmith, who builds them to code standards despite the fact that there are currently no laws governing floating home construction in Redwood City.

Redwood City Tradition

Those familiar with the history of Redwood City know that it started life as a port town. Floating homes carry on that tradition. Locations like Sausalito, Portland, and Seattle take great pride in their floating home communities, many of which have become sources of tourism. Redwood City could do the same.

Floating Homes are Cool

Otis Redding's song "(Sitting On) The Dock of the Bay" was written on a Sausalito houseboat. "Sleepless in Seattle", starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, was filmed on a Seattle floating home. Jack London lived on a houseboat. Duncan MacLeod, the lead character in the television series "The Highlander" lives on a houseboat. Locally, Sausalito floating home communities are known for their artists and characters. And although it's a small community compared to Sausalito and Seattle, Docktown has potters, musicians, dancers, designers, photographers, engineers, and many characters of it's own.

Welcome Aboard.