In this installment of Borten’s series, A Sense of Place, the producer offers a-study-in-contrast style portrait of her childhood neighborhood from the forties through the end of the century. Both the neighborhood and Borten’s perceptions evolve –– her first effort took place in 1989, and she returned eleven years later. Borten’s kaleidoscopic approach makes for a rich half-hour.

Tape of Jewish immigrants, who, escaping from Hitler’s version of homeland security, eventually found sanctuary in the Logan neighborhood echo off later African American residents, who sought sanctuary in the stability of home ownership, and Hispanics who followed. But the literally unstable Logan area ground led to houses sinking, even abandoned, and the accompanying societal woes of troubled inner city neighborhoods. Then there were the hazards behind closed doors, which one family poignantly shares.

There are great details of life during the war period, woven with music of the time, and compelling tape of residents throughout the years. At moments, not thinking about the title, I wasn’t sure where the piece was heading –– was it about environment? Memory? But a sense of this place, this neighborhood, seen over time, demands a certain amount of non-linear, spider-webbiness. In the end, the piece is about survival, and the survival of children is of paramount importance, then, now, always.
Program any time.