Sprawled Out: The Search for Community in the American Suburb

Urban Development Strategies From 1939

A blast from the past from Coronet Instructional Films (score by Aaron Copeland!) shows us the scourge of the city -- from which the suburbs were designed to deliver us.

In 1939 the American Institute of Planners commissioned a film for the 1939 New York World's Fair. The result was The City, a film about the historic importance of rural, small town life in America, the evils of the city that had developed as America industrialized, and the possibility of reclaiming the "good life" through suburban housing initiatives.  You can see the complete film here.

(I was surprised to see in the credits Pare Lorentz the groundbreaking documentarian who made the film The Plow That Broke the Plains and The River, which told that story of the great rivers of the American continent and the work of the Tennessee Valley Authority.) 

via The Atlantic

The Story of Sprawl 2-DVD set | Planetizen

From Planetizen (visit their site for three sample clips):

In planning circles, it is fashionable to debate the merits or drawbacks of the spread of suburban living that happened in the 20th century. What isn’t up for debate is that it happened- that from the early '40s until the beginning of the 21st century, the American pattern of development changed radically.

This 2-disc set is an unprecedented visual document of how sprawl happened, told through a series of historic films ranging from 1939's The City, created by famed planner Lewis Mumford, to No Time For Ugliness from 1965, produced by the American Institute of Architects.

To get a modern perspective on what these films represent, we’ve recorded commentary tracks for each video with noted planners and authors. You can watch the films on their own, or with the voice of a noted expert guiding you through, including:

• Prof. Robert Cervero, UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design
• Duncan Crary of the KunstlerCast
• Andrés Duany, DPZ Associates
• Anthony Flint, author of The Battle Over Sprawl and the Future of America.
• Jacky Grimshaw, The Center for Neighborhood Technology
• James Howard Kunstler, author of The Geography of Nowhere
• Prof. Jackie Leavitt, UCLA's Dept. of Urban Planning.
• Prof. Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, UCLA's Dept. of Urban Planning.
• John Norquist, President of the Congress for New Urbanism.
• Neal Pierce, Citistates Group.
• Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, DPZ Associates.
• Mark D. Van Ells, author of To Hear Only Thunder Again: America's World War II Veterans Come Home.

The Story of Sprawl 2-DVD set | Planetizen.

Why we need to REHABILITATE rather than EXPAND a broken street and road network

Long-Term Outlook: Slow Growth And Deflation | The Big Picture.

The deepening recession and spreading financial crisis is the beginning of the unwinding of about three decades of financial leverage and spending excesses. The process will probably take many years to complete as U.S. consumers mount a decade-long saving spree, the world’s financial institutions delever, commodity prices remain weak, government regulation intensifies and protectionism threatens, if not dominates. Sluggish economic growth and deflation are the likely results.

Still worried about getting more traffic through town?

Wisconsin sprawl film on MTV site

Found this short film about Ruby Farms in Brookfield, via a post on the (newly redesigned) Political Environment. Direct link to Think MTV here.

GM Today has an M Magazine story about the impending end of Ruby Farms here.

SUBDIVIDED: Isolation and Community in America

"Three years ago I moved to the suburbs. I was pretty excited about it. There was lots of shopping, lots of parking, and plenty of room for new houses. But after several weeks, I hadn't met a single person. One day, I saw the neighbor across the street mowing his lawn. A perfect time to go and introduce myself. I started toward him with a big grin on my face. But then a funny thing happened. As he turned his lawn mower and took sight of me coming toward him, he spun on his heel and mowed his way behind his house.

"I realized I was living in a subdivision, and not a neighborhood. I wondered: is THIS the new American Dream?"

So begins "SUBDIVIDED: Isolation and Community in America," a film by Dean Terry (see a page full of video clips here).  The documentary hews very, very close to the subject matter I explore here in the SPRAWLED OUT blog, exploring issues of public space, thoughtless development and developers, loss of community, etc., all against a backdrop of strikingly evocative footage and music (also by Terry). If you're the least bit interested in the sorts of topics I explore here, you'll enjoy this DVD very, very much.