ArchWeek - A Better Suburbia

[yaubourg]

As a person who lived in Village Homes for most of my childhood, i find this discusion quite amusing. First, I want to adress the idea that people have to drive far away to get to a super market. There is a marketplace within walking/biking distance of the community, called Farmtown Market (however, it maybe gone now because back in the early 1990s when i lived their the marketplace was dying). Farmtown had a super market, a local video store, a bakery, a chinese food place and was located west of Village Homes. It took about 2 minutes of driving to get there. Only a seperate small community west of village homes seperates it from the marketplace. So, to suggest people have to drive 5 miles on a local highway to get to a supermarket may be incorrect( as i said i don't know if the marketplace shut down). Regardless, when I was there we often biked/walked to Farmtown. Also, many people, including my mother, did grow their own vegetables. The many fruits listed in the article were grown in orchards and there were several grape vinyards. Finally, Emerson Junior High School was across the street from Village Homes on the east side and a K-6 elementary school was also close by. Many kids from Village Homes would walk/bike to school. All these things, cut down on the amount of car usage by people living there.

As for open spaces being dangerous places, that wasn't the case in Village Homes. It was the safest place i've lived in. As 8 and 9 year old children my sister and I and other neighborhood friends would spend entire days (in the summer, of course) outside playing games, riding bikes, going to the pool. Instead of having each individual house include a pool in the backyard, which is common in California, Villiage Homes had a large community pool that was used by everyone.

In the article, there is a suggestion that the grounds weren't kept up causing outsiders to call it " an eyesore", I would have to disagree. There was a hired gardener who did take care of the public gardens. Gardens in front of houses were manged by the owners/inhabitants. But the paths and gardens, the variety of plants and trees made it one of the most beautiful places I've seen and many who live in Davis agree. That's why it is one of the most sought after places to live in Davis. People hardly ever move from there and when a house comes on the market it sells very quickly. Here are some pictures if you want to see for yourself: http://www.davistour.com/villagehomes.htm

My two major criticisms of the place are the climate, in Davis, and the architecture of the houses. It just gets soo hot during the summer in Davis, and even in Village Homes you can't escape the heat. In terms of the architecture, many of the houses were dark on the inside, there were problems with circulation, and if you lived in a two story house the second floor tended to get really hot during the summer.

Other than that, I think Village Homes is a tremendous sucess. I think it should be duplicated, with some modifications, all over California.

[Kevin]

Great comments, thanks! Lovely to hear your first-hnad experience.