Land Tenure Center Newsletter
Number 77, Spring 1999, p. 11
Ours to Decide, a new video documentary funded in part by the North American Program of the Land Tenure Center, is the story of a community, an alliance, and a piece of land everybody wants. Three years ago the State of Wisconsin’s Department of Administration announced intentions to sell off large tracts of publicly owned land. One 15-acre parcel near Mendota State Hospital on Madison’s north side was being used by neighbors as an unofficial park and contained 4 acres of community gardens used by low-income and immigrant farmers under a year-by-year lease agreement. This parcel became a rallying point for community gardeners and neighborhood residents. Already feeling the pinch of rapid development, the northsiders and their allies rallied to come up with an alternative to traditional urban in-fill for the land.
Independent producer Dorrie Brooks brought a video camera to community meetings and began to collect a public and private record of the dramatic proceedings. With the help of the NAP, Brooks turned her material into a compelling 60-minute documentary. Ours to Decide examines the forces of urban development as experienced by residents of the community. It is also a reminder of how hard it is to buck the system and a lesson in politics, compromise, and endurance.
Community efforts recorded by the documentary touch on broader conflicts over urban sprawl, open space, affordable housing, and neighborhood control. Ours to Decide has potential to reach a broader audience where similar battles are being fought and similar lessons learned.
Length: 60 minutes / Price: $125.00
To order: Send check for full amount with name and address to
Shebang Media, 710 Woodward Drive, Madison, WI 53704,
or call (608) 241-4796, or email shebang@execpc.com
Copyright © 1999 by Land Tenure Center and Board of Regents, University of Wisconsin. All rights reserved.
Readers may make verbatim copies of this document for noncommercial purposes by any means, provided that this copyright notice appears on all such copies.
More information about LTC's North America Program
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