Making Sense of Place is a documentary film and educational outreach project that was originally launched by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in 2003. It debuted as a series of three films aired on PBS stations nationwide.
Making Sense of Place is a documentary film and educational outreach project that was originally launched by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in 2003. It debuted as a series of three films aired on PBS stations nationwide.
Each film focused on growth and change in a different large metropolitan area.
The first film, Phoenix: The Urban Desert, examined the explosive, dispersed growth in the booming Southwest metropolis and the related practical and environmental challenges. Cleveland: Confronting Decline in an American City traced urban decay and revitalization efforts in what was once America's fifth largest city. Portland: Quest for the Livable City explored innovation and conflict surrounding growth and land use regulations in Portland, Oregon.
Each film delved into critical issues that had largely been absent from the national conversation related to how we live and how we grow: metropolitan growth in the context of environmental concerns, population and demographic trends, and equity and race. However, since the original films were produced, national events – notably the financial crisis and recession of 2008 – have significantly changed the landscape of these cities in unforeseen ways.
In 2018, the Lincoln Institute teamed up once again with Northern Light Productions to revive the Making Sense of Place project. The Lives of Cities website is the result of that collaboration and combines the most relevant excerpts from the three original films with a series of newly produced, short documentary films and research organized around the Lincoln Institute’s central areas of focus: sustainability, spatial inequality, and fiscal health.
Click here to watch the original Making Sense of Place series in its entirety.
Our hope is that The Lives of Cities site will follow in the footsteps of the original films in serving as a catalyst for community dialogue and educational opportunities.
Produced by Northern Light Productions for the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Special thanks to: Akron International Institute, Angel’s Trumpet Alehouse, Building a Better Phoenix, Central Arizona Project, Chateau Hough, City of Portland, Community Cycling Center, Emanuel Displaced Persons Association 2, The Fund for Our Economic Future, Gila River Indian Community, Global Cleveland, Hazelnut Grove, Kenton Women’s Village, LEED Co, Native Seeds/SEARCH, Ohio City Farm, Overlook Neighborhood Association, Pima Maricopa Irrigation Project, Ramona Farms, Thomas Jefferson Newcomers Academy, Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning, Valley Metro, Village Family Farms.
Production Team
Creative Director: Bestor Cram
Cinematographers: Bestor Cram, John Cummings, Zoe Gregoric, Brady Holden, Nolan Nissle
Editors: Peggy Aw, Glenn Fukushima, Zoe Gregoric, Tim McCoy, John Sherrer
Writers: Zoe Gregoric, Jen Mackie, Matthew MacLean
Producer & Project Manager: Jen Mackie
Sound Recordists: Matthew MacLean, Christopher Mas
Motion Graphics: James Carlsen
Website Design: Studio Rainwater / Sarah Rainwater, Willow Rambert, Sarah Verity
Website Developer: Jake & Company / Jake Camara