The Village at Lichfield Park

The Village was built back in 2008 upon a very plain and empty plot of desert. Today the Village currently home to approximately 5,000 residents within the master planned community. Which has a feel of isolation to it. Not only is it partially surrounded by flat barren desert it also is cut off from the outside world by its walls that surround most of the community though on the outside there is no gates except for the gates that lead to the more elite homes. In this isolated community they have access to numerous parks all of which are perfectly planned to allow all the homes within the community a park that is within walking distance no matter where you live. It also contains a community pool and spa that access to dependeds on your level of houses status. It also is connected to a golf course resort in which depending on your level you live in you can live with it being right behind your home. The Village also has its own elementary school with it allowing for families to have their kids not go to school within the community.

            The Village is a slightly unique experience as its feel of the place isn’t meant to show one single city but instead multiple cities with in the one community. As the building style is mentioned to be unique and special as its not all just the same building over and over. On top of that the desired them for it to be multiple cities within an intimate setting as they are all close together. This is due to the desire for the walkable community in which all they need can be reached through walking or is close enough to them it’s less than half an hour away . On top of that the theme of multiple cities is strengthened by the fact that many sections of the community seem to have different building structures which makes it look more like its own city right next to the community but is infact still part of one great planned community.

            The ads for the community seems to have kind of intimate closeness to it as it focuses on the walkability of the community to locations near the home such as the parks that are placed through out the community. And anything not in walkable distance is at least close by such as its emphasis on its schools as it mentions how close it is to the different schools and the community college close by. The community does however seem to be very selective of its residents as even though it makes a big deal of being close, the houses with the for-sale signs also included an appointment is necessary.  This feel of community comradery is further through its use of the HOA system in which they meet up and talk about the state of things as well and make rules for the community. However, as Jon Talon mentions in his article Phoenix 101: ‘Master Planned Communities’ these communities follow a strict set of rules to keep up their appearance. Of which is decided by their HOA. However, the most prominent thing that stands out to me is caused by its appearance. As it’s a community of nothing but greenery and tall palm trees all over place its easy to forget that I am still in Arizona. And this is the issue as Talon mentions in Phoenix 101: ‘Master Planned Communities’ “If you think central Arizona has the water to support "master planned communities" for another 3 million or 6 million fools from the snow...well, I have some land to sell you.” This is the problem. Arizona is a desert water is not abundant and the use of it to support a ton of master planned communities to just look nice is a major waste of a precious resource.