Village Park: Site Planning for a Medium-Density, Low-Income Rental Project for Laotian Refugees in Sacramento, California

Abstract

This study examines the planning for Village Park, a 50-unit, low-income townhouse project in Sacramento, California. The two main goals of the project were to create medium-density housing that incorporates some amenities of single-family residences desired by rental tenants and to balance assimilation of low-income refugee families into the larger community with maintenance of their traditional culture. The clients for the project, a group of Laotian families (Hmong and Mien), worked with the architect/author to ascertain their design priorities for rental housing. The goal of balancing community assimilation with cultural maintenance was achieved by creating an outward “street face” which conforms to typical Sacramento neighborhood appearance and an inward “village core” which supports traditional behaviors in a protected, interactive setting. The Village Park concept draws upon and reinforces the medium-density planning concepts by Cooper-Marcus and Sarkissian (1986) and McCamant and Durrett (1988). Rapid growth in Hispanic and Southeast Asian populations, tremendous shortages in low-income housing, and rising land costs have dictated the need for more medium-density, low-income housing developments. At the same time, local resistance to concentrations of low-income residents has stalled housing efforts. The Village Park concept promotes attractive enclaves of housing that fit well with the surrounding community and an internal site design that provides enough space for a variety of residential activities based upon tenants’ needs. Thus, the Village Park concept presents the new culture to the community in a worthy, less threatening manner, while respecting cultural maintenance and assimilation goals of its low-income residents.

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Notes on contributors

Pat Harrison

Pat Harrison is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Design at the University of California at Davis.