Subdivided - Isolation, Community, Urban Sprawl, and The McMansion, a Documentary Film by Dean Terry

Do you live in a cookie-cutter subdivision where all of the houses look the same and none of your neighbors ever stop by to say hello? Do you get mad at the fact that in your community there is absolutely no sense of community? Well, you wouldn't be alone. Check out this new documentary called "Subdivided" by Dean Terry.

Link: Subdivided - Isolation, Community, Urban Sprawl, and The McMansion, a Documentary Film by Dean Terry.

Subdivided is a documentary film about life in contemporary suburbia: a personal study of isolation and the struggle to find and maintain maintain community in an era of careless development, the uninspired design of the modern subdivision, urban sprawl, and the invasion of the McMansion.

Relocating back to downtown...

Syracuse, N.Y. is similiar to Dayton, OH in that it suffers from the "sprawl-without-population-growth" phenomenon.  Fortunately for them, there are progressive businesses that understand the importance of the center city, and one major company has decided to reverse the suburban trend by moving from a suburban office park that it built in 1989 BACK to the heart of downtown Syracuse.

The Post-Standard
By Charley Hannagan
Link: O'Brien & Gere Plans Move.

The O'Brien & Gere Cos. plans to move its headquarters from the suburban office park it developed 17 years ago to a new, environmentally friendly building in the heart of Syracuse's downtown.... ... O'Brien & Gere has made its mark in environmental engineering and had considered redeveloping property along Onondaga Lake for its new headquarters, said its Chief Executive Officer Terry Brown.

However, "when you're thinking about how important center city is to this community, O'Brien & Gere would have more of an impact on all of Central New York's economy by being in center city," he said.

"It ties in so well with everything that the university's been doing and the downtown initiatives that have been talking place," said Michael P. Falcone, Pioneer's chief executive, referring to Syracuse University.