Subdivided: My Review

I watched Dean Terry's documentary, "Subdivided," last night. The film took a look at the effect of urban sprawl on society, focusing on the East Dallas neighborhood of Little Forrest Hills, which maintains an amazing sense of community in a world where most of us never even speak to our neighbors.

The film made some excellent points about the negative aspects of our sprawling cities, like isolation from our friends and neighbors, increased commutes, and increased frustration. According to Terry, every 10 minutes we add to our commute decreases time spent in social activities like family dinners and parties by 10%.

Unfortunately, instead of exploring solutions to these problems that could be implemented by city planners, neighborhood associations, or residents, Terry spent too much of the documentary interviewing zealously anti-suburban Little Forrest Hills residents about the ills of Plano, which I felt took away some of the film's credibility. Overall, I would recommend catching the documentary when it re-airs, even though that's going to be this Saturday at 3 am.