There are several gauges that can be used to measure the growth of our community. The two most obvious are based on simple mathematics. What is the number of homes that have closed? What is the number of residents who call Maples at the Sonatas home?

But there is another measure too, a less precise, more symbolic one. And that is the progressive movement of the construction gates.

Until last week, there have always been two sets of gates—one at each of the boundaries of the developed area in our community. When I first began visiting here six years ago—if I remember correctly—the gates were only a couple of blocks apart. Since then, they have moved outward several times as Schumann Street and Handel Lane gradually filled with new homes. Last year brought a major advancement when Phase 2 opened and the Handel gates moved to Verdi, our third and final street.

With Phase 3 opening recently, the gates have moved for the final time. One set of them is gone all together. The other has moved as far out as possible, right to the edge of our property. If you look carefully at the picture above, you will see that the homes on the other side of the gates are not Epcon homes. They are in the neighboring subdivision.

In an upcoming post, we’re going to take a walk through Phase 3 and see what’s going on out there. In the meantime, if you are more comfortable with numbers than symbolic gates, here’s the mathematical gauge of our latest growth. As of today, we have 98 residents living in 63 homes.

Does that mean we are nearly built out? No. But we have passed the halfway point. The signs of growth are farther from me now, but they are there all the same.