Vibrant towns or sprawl? Small town newsman (and Pulitzer Prize winner) Tom Hylton explores how America can save its cities, towns, and countryside in this 40-minute program.
Save Our Land, Save Our Towns taps into a growing concern about sprawl among ordinary Americans. A poll by the Pew Center for Civic Journalism recently found that sprawl ranks with crime, taxes, and education as the top domestic concern of citizens across the country.
Americans are frustrated with traffic congestion, angry about the loss of open space, and perplexed by the decline of America's cities. Many think sprawl is inevitable. But it's not.
Save Our Land, Save Our Towns is a story of hope -- logical reasons why America's towns can be rebuilt and its countryside preserved from strip malls and subdivisions. The program is designed to be engaging and personal -- a voyage of discovery, rather than a mere recitation of facts, with moments of revelation, humor and emotion.
Filmed in Pennsylvania, England, Oregon, and North Carolina.
SHORT VERSION: "Although every segment of the film is retained, each one is condensed by abbreviating interviews and eliminating details that might confuse young people. People's recollections of towns of the past are condensed, and descriptions of zoning laws and problems with development in Portland are cut. The video is separated into two parts to facilitate classroom discussion. The final 4-minute segment touting the advantages of small town living becomes the basis of an optional homework assignment to describe the ideal community." Tom Hylton
