The Utopia sign topper at Arbor Branch and Club Glen near Forest Meadow Junior High

Realtors have been calling Lake Highlands a hot market for months and most consider LH our little slice of heaven, but one group has renamed their cul-de-sac Utopia, complete with a wine-glass-adorned street sign topper and t-shirts for residents.

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Utopia, which begins with Arbor Branch Drive near Forest Meadow Junior High and radiates out toward Club Glen and Arbor Trail, hosts holiday-themed parties including Memorial Day crawfish boils, Easter egg hunts and Cinco de Mayo fiestas. They’ve hosted graduation parties for graduating Wildcat seniors and second chance proms for folks who missed their chance, and at Christmas time they have a “walkabout,” touring homes decorated for the holidays.

Utopia was founded around 2000, says Doug Throckmorton, about the year he moved in with wife, Sheri, and children, Caroline and Evan.

“It reminds me of my childhood. A few of my mom’s friends would come over to our house at 4 in the afternoon and say, ‘Hey, we just bought a bottle of vodka. Y’all want to get together? All of us kids would have pizza – it was great fun. When I had kids I thought, ‘Isn’t that just what you do?’”

“We started out with happy hours in the street,” agrees Sheri. “They just kind of happened. It was actually kind of embarrassing for our children. One of the kids at school would walk up and say, ‘Are you coming to happy hour today?’”

“In the beginning, we would all get together at a restaurant,” says Kelle Shanks, another one of Utopia’s “originals.” “I just said, ‘we need to drink local,’ and that became our slogan. We printed it, with our longitude and latitude coordinates, on the back of Utopia t-shirts, and had kids’ shirts made that say ‘play local.’ It’s really about belonging and participating in your neighborhood – being a part of something bigger and building those bonds.”

“We take care of one another,” continues Shanks. “If you need something, we are always there to help you. If you cook too much food, we share it with others. One of the kids said she sat down in a new dentist’s chair and he said, ‘Oh, you live in Utopia.’”

“Utopia is like when I was a kid,” recalls Kim Aman. “When you did something you weren’t supposed to, the phone back home would ring. If something was wrong, the whole neighborhood rallied. It’s about community building – a flashback to the 60’s and 70’s. You can borrow a cup of sugar or a glass of wine. It’s a lot more than Nextdoor, that homeowner association app. Everyone lets each other know what happening and we help one another.”

Besides a blossoming of quality of life, Utopians are convinced they’ve also seen a boost in their property values.

People come up to us and say, ‘If a house comes open on your block, let me know, I want to move in,’” says Shanks. “One realtor put in the description, ‘Neighbors call it Utopia. Come find out why.’ But few houses go on the market.”

“Our house sold in about 3 minutes,” agrees Doug Throckmorton, who moved away when his kids graduated LHHS and now lives in Preston Hollow. “The first couple that walked into our house brought us an offer over list price. We think Utopia is part of the appeal.”

Aman, known to many as Farmer Aman because she leads the farm project at nearby Moss Haven Elementary, says she’s plans to stay for many years.

“I don’t have to live down the street from the school. We don’t need this house, but we do need our neighbors.”

“Our kids all grew up together and they have great memories,” says Sheri Throckmorton with a sigh. “They’ve made friends for life. It’s the closest thing to Leave It to Beaver you can get in modern-day times.”

RISD School Board President Justin Bono and wife, Debbie, with Exchange Club President Patrick Brown and wife, Annie, at the Utopia crawfish boil

The 2017 Utopia Crawfish Boil