Biography of 100,000 Square Feet

Summary:

How does a public space fail? Can good intentions separated from reality border on negligence?

Website:

http://www.temchine.com

Additional Credits and Funding:

Thanks to Roman Mars, formerly of KALW and now in the cradle of Mid-western Public Radio, WBEZ, for all his help. My eternal gratitude to Karen St. Onge for her attention and care during the making of. And of course, thank you Nikki Silva for your generosity and skill. Finally, and most of all, thanks Mom and Dad.

Tones:

Contemplative, Polished, Sound Rich

Language:

English

Description:

In the center of San Francisco, there is a plaza with no benches and a fountain with a fence around. It’s a place that most people cross the street to avoid. How does this happen? Why does a public space fail? Is it just the homelessness and the drug addicts and dealers? Or is there something more to the story, something deeper? Is there a point where good intentions and idealism become so removed from reality, they actually border on negligence?

UN Plaza was a great mystery to me. I had often reported from failing neighborhoods and I was no longer shocked by daily encounters with degradation in such a beautiful city. What surprised me was the prominence of the display: not hidden in the crack alleys of the Tenderloin, but at the intersection of Market Street, San Francisco’s most important street, and the Civic Center, just outside the Mayor’s window.

In the constant flux of city life, we can sometimes forget that places, not just people, have memories, and forgetting that leads to tragedy.

<i>Featured on <a href="http://www.transom.org/">Transom.org</a>. For more information and conversation, visit <a href="http://www.transom.org/shows/2005/200501.biography_un_plaza.html">The Biography of 100,000 Square Feet</a> on Transom.</i>

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