Saving The City
Remaking The American Metropolis

Saving The City is a lively and provocative series of four one hour programs for public television celebrating the energy and excitement of our cities. Telling stories through the eyes of people who use the city, Saving The City highlights successful and unsuccessful examples of urban development and redevelopment throughout the United States and Canada. The focus is on downtowns and surrounding neighborhoods, the most visible and visited part of our cities.

We examine how cities change, and what forces make those changes; who funnels money into downtown development and who decides where it goes; how we set standards and move forward for the future. We show why cities can be good, fun and enjoyable; why some work well, why some do not. We look at what we do wrong, what we do right, and what we can learn as remaking the American metropolis continues to be a major focus of public and private policy and investment.

Conceived as more than purely a television series, Saving The City is a huge public education endeavor designed to raise awareness about why cities are important, why we should care about their vitality and how to remake our city centers and surrounding neighborhoods into better places. It is an especially timely topic, given the ongoing debate about continued sprawl, energy consumption and environmental sustainability along with the recent comeback of many major cities.

“How do we make our city centers more alive?” That’s the question this series answers, and that answer is vitally important for our nation’s future.

We are fundraising for production of the series and related educational material. You can help by visiting our Donate page. All contributions go through the Filmmakers Collaborative, a 501c(3) non-profit, and are fully tax-deductible.