Home › News ›

Student Film Captures The Nature Of A 'Lively' Downtown

Posted by: Mike Lydon

5 October 2006 - 10:00am

In the same vein as Jane Jacobs and William Whyte, Kirk Westphal, a recent graduate of the University of Michigan's Taubman School of Urban Planning, analyzes the success and failures of downtown Ann Arbor.

"The opening scene of Kirk Westphal's documentary fast-forwards through minutes of footage shot at night at the corner of South Main and Liberty streets in downtown Ann Arbor.

Thanks to the use of time-lapse photography, viewers see continual throngs of people crossing the street in a well-lit downtown after dark. Viewers are left without a doubt that this a city that is alive, even after the sun goes down.

'Insights into a Lively Downtown: An Ann Arbor, Michigan Case Study,' features interviews with dozens of people about what they like and don't like about the core of the city. But the film focuses much on what is right about downtown Ann Arbor, allowing the city to prosper even as many other towns struggle to keep their downtowns alive."

Full Story: Downtown documentary Planner's film a flattering portrait of Ann Arbor
Source: Ann Arbor News, October 2, 2006
Related links:
»
Bookmark and Share
“
The areas where we have severe blight and indications of more blight to come are basically the same as they ever were. How in the world are we ever going to move our community development selves into an alternative future that thinks differently about the challenges we face in our cities and low-income suburban and rural communities?
”