Planning: Not Like In The Movies

John Atlas briefly looks at four films--"Duplex," "Pacific Heights," "Wolfen" and "The Sunshine State," and comments on Hollywood's simplified and gross depictions of complex issues that housing, development and planning professionals address, including real estate speculation, housing evictions and gentrification. The exception, according to Atlas, is John Sayles' "The Sunshine State." He writes: "Intelligent movies about housing and communities are few and far between, even though these are topics that touch the lives of most people....We need more directors like Sayles who know how to entertain and challenge audiences to consider a range of viewpoints about community development."

Thanks to Connie Chung