Flaneur's Diary: Phoenix
Masterplanned Community
I visited The Lakes of Tempe, a master planned community located at the south of Tempe, a city in the Phoenix metro area. As stated in Jon Talton’s article “Phoenix 101: 'Master planned communities'”, the label is one of the first ones to be built in the Phoenix metro area. The community was built around several artificial lakes, and it consists of a variety of houses, condos and recently finished apartment buildings, which are designed based on what Talton refers as the “Arizona room” inside and a pool in the backyard. In the surrounding area of the community, conveniently close although not enough to actually walk there, there are several public amenities such as primary, middle and high schools, as well as a Whole Foods Market and several restaurants. This layout effectively discourages interaction and relationships among neighbors, as it focuses the individual’s attention and interest on their own house and their own space instead of on the communal street. This is an attitude that I could see reflected in the community neighbors, as they mostly step on the streets to rush from their cars into either their homes or restaurants. When they decide to enjoy the lakes, it is always from the safety of their own private boats.
Surprisingly, the community seamlessly blends with the city of Tempe, as there is no wall or fence that delimits its extent. This is a striking feature, because according to Talton, most master planned communities are “deliberately separated from its city” both “physically and psychically” either because of their location or because they are walled. The majority of The Lakes of Tempe is not physically separated from the city, however, the community is definitely psychically separated from the cit. It feels like a completely different place than Tempe. The whole community is a nice and beautiful space, surrounded by artificial bodies of water and full of trees, flowers and vegetation that made me feel as if I was in an oasis in the middle of hot and dry Tempe.
Interestingly, I found out that there are small, independent gated communities within the master planned community. These gated communities consist of a small number of identical houses surrounded by a fence or wall that separates them from the rest of the community, and gave me the impression of being another universe inside the community. Although the community as a whole is not walled, I found it interesting that the most expensive, elite and surprisingly individualistic houses are the ones located on an “island”, in the area surrounded completely by the artificial lakes. They are effectively isolated from the rest of the community and from the city by a great mass of water. To me, these spaces that are actually physically separated from the rest of the city are both a reminder and a present-day attempt to achieve the desired seclusion of the community’s dwellers.
The Lakes of Tempe includes amenities such as artificial lakes, parks, a clubhouse, a tennis and beach club, a swimming pool, various restaurants and services. As in most master planned communities, the majority of these amenities, with the exception of restaurants and services, are of private use. Despite being located on what looks like public city land, the lakes and parks are only to be enjoyed by the homeowners, as well as the beach, tennis club and the swimming pool - if they are willing to pay the extra fees. This community is administered by an HOA, a private Community Association, formed by the homeowners. They organize numerous group activities for the residents, who pride themselves on being a united and interconnected community, a statement that highly contrasts with my observation of the actual attitudes exhibited by the owners.
