I just watched it yesterday.

Joel

Apparently it was released in 2004.

It is very worth seeing for anyone interested in energy politics, geo-politics, lifestyles, community, information and media, environment, war, and suchlike.

J.

---------------------------------------------------------

Escape from Suburbia takes shape

Escape from Suburbia, the independent documentary about the coming energy
crisis and how people will meet this issue around the world, began principal
photography in Lisbon at the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) in late
May. From Spain, Tangiers, Paris, New York, Washington D.C., Vancouver and
Alberta, Escape from Suburbia director Gregory Greene and producer Dara Rowland
have been capturing the personal stories of ordinary people who are
contributing in extraordinary ways to what will be life with less oil. Stories will soon
be captured from Iceland, Cuba, Los Angeles, Colorado, and points in Asia and
Europe.

The film is a sequel of sorts to The End of Suburbia, which has become a
grassroots hit, drawing a record number of viewers for its first national
broadcast. As announced in the news recently (Variety magazine, etc.), The End of
Suburbia is being distributed for broadcast by Ellis Entertainment worldwide. It
continues to screen at film festivals and win awards.

Escape from Suburbia magnifies the subject by traveling the world to capture
invention in action, reveal the movers and shakers, and report on the latest
information from the business, academic and scientific communities. Its release
date is August 2006. To support this important film and view the synopsis and
details of our journey, please contact Dara Rowland at
dara@escapefromsuburbia.com.

from http://www.dararowlandassociates.com/

Still, it sounds quite interesting, both the original and the sequel. I'll have to get aview of it.

I saw the film by chance one evening, and was really impressed. It was all very Jane Jacobs, and as I like Jane Jacobs, that was a good thing. I like books and films that say what I already believe to be true. Saves me the trouble of changing my mind :)

But just because I agreed with the film's take on most issues doesn't mean that I didn't learn anything. I was particularly taken with the visions of what suburbia could become (other than another ghetto). Can't wait to see those strip malls become part of an actual neighbourhood. But what will we do with the WalMarts? Rec centers, maybe? Those bleeping parking lots alone would probably make for at least two baseball fields, and a park. I've got my fingers crossed.

One thing that I felt was lacking was a comprehensive analysis of national and global economics and how these will figure into urban life after the (hopeful) decline of suburban lifestyles. I know absolutely nothing about economics, but word on the street is that an oil-based economics is global, so I wondered why there was little mention of larger scale economic theories. I do remember some interesting ideas in the film around the evolution of local economies, but not much on a larger scale. I'm guessing from Marshall's write-up above that the new film will tackle this monster.

Dara - are you one of the filmmakers? I'd love to hear what kind of influences you've had in the evolution of your thoughts and theories on urban sprawl.

Shelly

The "peak oil" observation or assessment was originally made by an American economist named Hubbert many years ago, and the guy forecast that humanity would hit this peak of oil production and availability in the 1970s… and now what’s happening is that further usage and oil exploration and sober analysis are just proving that.

I happen to dislike suburbia and have done all I could my whole life to avoid being in it any longer that I’ve had to (amounting to stretches of days or weeks at the most), so in a way the film just confirmed my own prejudices. Which is one reason I originally wanted to discuss the documentary with other people – I know my prejudices are my own.

Seems to me that the peak-oil phenomenon, along with other social, environmental, and general urban-planning considerations, may sour the taste for suburbia. But generally speaking, it’s not happened yet.

I felt that little attention was or could be given in the film, due to run-time constraints, to the subtle and ongoing processes of adjustment that communities, households, and nations will engage in to cushion and delay the effects of increasing oil scarcity and increasing extraction costs (and resulting at-pump prices). But such considerations will probably show up in the makers’ next film, if that is completed and released.

Also, I didn’t think that the possible impact of alternative energy for cars, trucks, and possibly rail transport – such as hydrogen, ethanol, or electric (possibly derived from solar or wind power sources) was really factored in: wouldn’t this have the possible effect of staving off a suburbia crisis?

The geopolitics aspect was decently highlighted, in an introductory way. That’s as important as any message a film like this could possibly offer.

Well, as I say, it’s been a while since I watched it. I need to see it again, or see the sequel.

Joel

The fact is, Hubbert made his prediction in the '70s, but the predicted peak of production is sometime around the present (i.e., circa year 2000).

The article I linked to explains the prediction, graphs, and "theory" in some detail.

Joel