Utopia

Imagine a place that checks nearly every box in the search for Utopia — sustainable, energy efficient, communal, safe. For the past half-century, Village Homes, a visionary housing development in Davis, California, has checked those boxes and so much more. Since its groundbreaking, Village Homes has attracted such curious visitors as French President Francois Mitterrand, First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and Singer/Activist Pete Seeger — all eager to learn what it is about this place that continues to feel so right, even as others have since failed. Our guest, Tim McNeil, is not only an expert on the history of Village Homes but also a resident, and on today’s episode, he shares what makes this community so special.

Bio: Tim McNeil is the Director of the UC Davis Design Museum and a Professor of Design at the University of California, Davis, where he is the primary instructor for courses on exhibition design and environmental graphic design.

Publications:

• Village Homes: A Radical Plan
• The Transformational Impact of Exhibition Design
• STILL: Racism in America