Chronicle of an American Suburb

Filmmaker H. James Gilmore grew up in Park Forest, Illinois, the planned community near Chicago that was designed as a sort of suburban utopia for returning GIs and their families after World War II. Less famous--or infamous--than Levittown, NY, Park Forest mixed a variety of housing styles (apartments, ranch style, and split-level houses) with shopping and entertainment venues in the hope of ensuring a happy, middle-American lifestyle for generations. Combining archival footage of the construction and early days of Park Forest with interviews of present and former residents, Chronicle of an American Suburb assesses how such lofty ambitions fared. In the ‘60s, the city's median educational level was the highest in Illinois, but the same socioeconomic forces that brought on urban decline in older cities in the '70s struck Park Forest as well, as shopping malls sapped the strength of city-center shops and residents' dreams of lifetime employment were dashed. Eventually, Park Forest's population (and money) flocked to newer suburbs as urban decline set in. Ironically, the Park Forest shopping plaza became a model for the very shopping malls that ultimately drew commerce away from downtowns across the land. A fine look at how the domestic giddiness of the postwar years devolved into the upset and unrest of the late ‘60s and beyond, this is recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (M. Tribby)