• "...tenaciously reminds us of just how complex the issues confronting the state can be, not to mention the notion of how tricky serving the disparate interests of all residents can be." L.A. Daily News

  • "...a fascinating account of issues central to California's past and its well being in the future." The Hollywood Reporter

 

California and the American Dream explores the dynamics of culture, community and identity in one of the most diverse regions in the world. In the last 35 years, California has become a laboratory for divergent social trends. Together, these trends have so radically transformed the state that it bears little resemblance to the Hollywood dreamscape it projected in previous decades. In the post 9-11 era, California is center stage for an array of issues re-defining the American agenda – from changing demographics to new models of civic engagement, from the role of immigrants in neighborhood life to the challenge to democracy by the initiative process, from sustainable agriculture to Native American gaming and sovereignty.

Episode 2: The Price of Renewal, produced and directed by Paul Espinosa, explores issues of community development, philanthropy, and civic engagement as an inner city neighborhood is redeveloped througha public-private partnership.

What are the challenges in crafting a vibrant urban village from an ethnically, culturally, and economically diverse population? This perceptive documentary examines complex issues of community development, philanthropy and civic engagement by chronicling the long-term redevelopment of an older, deteriorating neighborhood called City Heights, often referred to as the Ellis Island of San Diego. The film probes both the potential and the pitfalls of public/private partnerships in addressing the problems of inner city decay, as well as the thorny questions raised by the gentrification of multicultural urban neighborhoods.

Thirty years of non-European immigration to City Heights was spurred by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which replaced preferences based on national origin with priorities favoring family reunification. The result in City Heights is a rich mix of cultural values and people, including immigrants from Mexico and Latin America and refugees from Southeast Asia and East Africa. Profound redevelopment plans placed this poor and largely powerless community in an unlikely partnership with businessman and philanthropist Sol Price (the founder of the Price Club and widely recognized as the "father" of the discount warehouse industry) and William Jones, an African-American real estate developer who was the youngest person ever elected to the San Diego City Council.

 

For more information about this topic, check out the following links:

  • California and the American Dream Series Website: The series' companion website gives an overview of each program, as well as providing related links and resources.
  • Price Charities: Price Charities is committed to building better communities in San Diego and Imperial Counties, with a particular focus on City Heights in the City of San Diego.


Please contact the California and the American Dream Series for ordering information.


California and the American Dream (2006)

Series Producers/ Directors


Series Co-Producer

 

Paul Espinosa
Lyn Goldfarb
Jed Riffe
Emiko Omori
Jack Kohler

  • The Corporation for Public Broadcasting
  • PBS
  • The Ford Foundation
  • The Independent Television Service
  • Native American Public Telecommunications
  • The Skirball Foundation
  • Latino Public Broadcasting
  • The Center for Asian American Media
  • The Rockefeller Foundation
  • The California Council for the Humanities

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