Designing a Great Neighborhood 2004
Distributed by Bullfrog Films, PO Box 149, Oley, PA 19547; 800-543-FROG (3764)
Produced by David Wann
Directed by David Wann
DVD, color, 54 min.
Sr. High - Adult
American Studies, Architecture, Environmental Studies, Sociology, Community Design
Date Entered: 02/01/2006
Reviewed by Ronald Saskowski Jr., ASRC Management Services, Atlanta, GADesigning a Great Neighborhood takes the viewer through five years of planning and development of a sustainable community in Boulder, Colorado. The video shows the intricate planning and the community cohesiveness in designing a place where people can live and work while benefiting the environment. It highlights the sense of community that people experienced long ago living in tight-knit communities, where a neighbor knew a neighbor.
The film spends an adequate amount of time exploring and explaining each stage of development. The viewer experiences firsthand, the interaction of future residents as they plan and develop their new community. Words and phrases specific to the development are defined in terms we can all understand. Selected residents are interviewed at the end of the piece telling of their satisfaction with their new community.
The film’s narrator speaks clearly and audibly and provides a great addition to the piece. The video quality is superb, steady and well-focused. The choice of upbeat music is particularly appropriate in that it captures the mood and excitement of the residents as they design and develop this great space.
Designing a Great Neighborhood tells of the numerous benefits of creating a sustainable community. The producer presents only two negative things about building this community: the park space had to be smaller than the developers wanted due to the addition of innovative water filtering, and the city of Boulder wanted the streets to be wider than originally planned. While the benefits of this type of community likely outweigh any negatives, the piece would be more well-rounded by including more than just these two issues. If the residents felt there were no downsides to their community; that could be stated in the production.
This film is recommended for high school media centers specifically for architecture and sociology classes. College and university libraries with collections in sociology and architecture would also benefit by including this video in their holdings. Community groups and non-profit development groups would possibly find this useful as an addition to their public libraries.