Residential Landscape Identity – Sonoma at Dobbins Creek.

 Described on the KB Homes website as a “quiet, gated community”, Sonoma at Dobbins Creek is an immaculate, gated subdivision in South Phoenix. The homes are separated from the northern base of South Mountain by only a lush golf course, Dobbins Rd. and a really high fence. Ground was broken for Sonoma in 2001 and the last lots are currently being filled in with beautiful homes. The subdivision offers one and two-story homes with just 3 models available.  This lack of architectural choices gives a sterile, uniform feel to the community. In their article Residential Subdivision Identity in Metropolitan Phoenix, Kevin Blake and Daniel Arreola challenge the notion that in Phoenix,  “Every house looks about the same in…tightly controlled environment[s]”.  One major contributing faction to this popular conception is the great influence of the valley’s Homeowner Associations (HOAs).

  As one might expect of a newer subdivision in Phoenix, the fingerprints of a HOA’s CC+Rs are visible everywhere.  There are few personal touches adorning the properties: these homes are kept the same matching colors, each with exactly same shaped front yard with the same desert landscaping (though some do attempt to break up the monotony with a tiny patch of grass installed near the center of the yard). Community mailboxes, each capable of delivering mail to twelve households, sit at regularly spaced intervals. As if to hammer home the UPC-code like sameness of it all, each and every house in the subdivision features a snappy “KB Homes” logo, hung just below the house address number. They very much resemble the logos on designer clothing - announcing to the observer the owner’s impeccably good taste. In this case good taste is selecting a house that perfectly matches the one your neighbor bought. 

This homogenization is part of a carefully selected marketing scheme. As Evan McKenzie describes in Privatopia: Homeowner Associations and the Rise of Residential Private Government: The development was built “with certain groups of buyers in mind.  Pricing decisions for large neighborhoods of mass-produced housing promote class or income homogeneity” (2).  The prices at Dobbins Creek insure that only those with a substantial income are welcome.  A home here starts at  $194,250 (almost 25% above the $146,000 median home cost in its 85042 zip code and a staggering 57% above this zip code’s 1998 median home price of $77,000) (Source: AzCentral.com) and run as high as $340,080 for the basic models before any add-ons.  If you can afford the hefty price tag, you get a lot for your money.  Floorplans with up to 3094 sq. ft. are standard and the oak vanities and upgraded Whirlpool appliances are included. As are the “fantastic mountain and cityscape views”.  Some of the best views are available from the sprawling community recreation area.

The massive park (areawise, it dwarfs many public parks serving communities with much larger population concentrations elsewhere throughout the city) offers an exercise zone and community gathering area.  Along with the looming gate out front, this park seems to be the nexus of Dobbins Creek’s identity of security and class-exclusivity. You can do it all right here in the heart of South Mountain Village: ride a bike, play volleyball, soccer or basketball, relax in the shade and let your kids run and play in the “tot-lot”with the kids whose parents are right in your income bracket. All without venturing beyond the gated security of Sonoma at Dobbins Creek.

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email: James.Czarnik@asu.edu