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Observations on Brownfields: Complications and Considerations
The
eight-part documentary series Brownfields: Reclaiming Our Urban Environment
took more than two years to be produced. It was recently completed and shown
before a national audience at the Brownfields 2004 Conference.
While I was making the series, I traveled with the film crew from Wild Hare Productions to film once-polluted sites being redeveloped into properties that, in many cases, would become demonstrations of what a vibrant urban community should be.
From ballparks to green spaces to mixed-income housing, we filmed thousands of hours and interviewed more than 160 people.
Everyone had a different and interesting story to tell. Often, those stories would focus on how a project took longer than they thought and cost more than originally budgeted, but yielded results larger than they had dreamed. Maybe this could stir an interest in other similar projects or get developers to slow down their march to the suburbs and return to the inner core.
“Brownfields: Reclaiming Our Urban Environment” documentary
series, which will appear on local PBS stations in winter 2005. He is a visiting
professor at Tulane University. Distribution of the series is handled through
Films Media Group.