Jim Tarantino
urban planner
Change has always been inherent to how settlements have evolved - a city cannot accept new ideas without pushing some old ideas out. These changes have resulted in pushing society towards a more alienated whole, particularly in embracing car-centric movement, internet-based communication, and a disconnect from producing "real" goods in the marketplace. Often, we reflect on the results rather than the processes causing these changes as their net effect is more visceral and bizarre - vacant storefronts, obesity, dating on craigslist.
Right now, as with all previous periods, our neighborhoods are going through those changes that lead us to visceral, gripping aftermaths. Think of Detroit in 2060 and what it's commercial strips, block watch meetings, high school corridors will look like.
There is a unique opportunity to document the inevitable while it is occuring before our eyes. One example of article fodder in this vein is to document the mom and pop brick and mortar video rental store on the brink of folding, beloved by their customers and community but dangling in the wind exposed to market forces that have crippled their peers in commerce. Another could be an interview examinging the motivations of the community workers struggling contrary to market forces in order to encourage reinvestment in declining, urban commercial corridors. Further fodder could include an examination of the changing public amenities (public spaces, visual environment, parks, food/culture, political priorities) resultant from aging populations in urban areas.
