Christopher and Lisa Leinberger present a history of popular television shows reflecting and predicting how Americans chose to live.
"There have been two crucial times over the last 60 years when TV shows switched settings, reflecting society’s shifts in the way we have invested in infrastructure and real estate. We are in the middle of the second structural shift right now, which started in the mid-1990s. TV helped to predict that change," write the Leinbergers.
The list has two criteria: "prime-time situation comedies and dramas (no daytime TV, sports, news or reality shows)" and "the built environment — walkable urban or drivable suburban — must play a significant, though generally subtle, role in the show."
Here are a couple of examples of what they came up with, among the six examples of television eras described in the article:
- "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" (1951-1966) for era #3: "Drivable suburban living lionized (late 1950s through the late 1960s)"
- "The Sopranos" (1999-2007) for era #6: "Growing dysfunction in the suburbs (late 1990s to the present)"
Read the full story: How TV Predicted America’s Moves From City to ‘Burbs and Back Again
The unsung bureaucrat: Planners in film and TV
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
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Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
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Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
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FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority