Looking At Change Before It Occurs; Trees Are Treasure

Though the subjects are different, both of these videos by producer/writer/director Meg Maguire are excellent overviews of "community action" programs which are being used to enhance the look of communities, improve the local economy, and reduce the negative impact of development on the environment. In Looking at Change Before It Occurs, we see how computer visual simulation using 3-D, motion, topographical, and paint programs allows town planners--and the citizenry--to see what proposed changes will look like before it's too late. From software programs which show the effects of commercial development projects to creating a 3-D detailed simulation cityscape map of New York, the professionals interviewed on the tape offer thought-provoking ideas about new ways looking at change. Trees are Treasure: Sustaining the Community Forest opens with the familiar strains of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" whose satirical comment that "they paved paradise--put up a parking lot" no longer strikes people as funny. With concrete and asphalt registering lower marks on the aesthetic scale these days, more and more communities are adopting tough "tree ordinances" which ensure that paradise will be, at worst, selectively paved in the future. In Prince George's County, MD, for example, you're just as likely to see "Nature at Work" signs as the increasingly anachronistic "Men at Work" signs. With the popularity of books like Amitai Etzioni's The Spirit of Community (1993, Crown), communities are starting to see themselves as a) cohesive entities, and b) politically viable, which means that c) they're ready, willing, and able to make changes. Both of these programs will give concerned citizens ideas...good ideas. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)