This week's film is “Placemaking and Seattle,” a short doc directed and lovingly photographed by Eric Becker. The SLUT looks good in this film, as well as Pike Place Market and other recognizable and less recognizable locations of the city. (There's also great use of Google's Street View.)

Becker writes: “I believe that the fundamental question that America faces is how do we redesign these places in a way that becomes therapeutic to the maladies of isolation. We've just gone through an election that has proven that the divisions are deep. I can't help but wonder the role that the layouts of our lives, our daily paths, the rooms where we work and sleep, and the streets where we drive or walk play in all of this. This film is about Seattle, because that is where I do all those things. We are an innovative place, a confluence of social values, entrepreneurship, and the understanding that community is an important element to creating a society where we can all take part. My hope is that because of that unique milieu, we can be an example on how America, and all of us can move forward.” Enjoy the doc; enjoy the images of his/our city.

Speaking of Seattle, tomorrow I will be delivering a lecture about the decline of social housing called “The Twilight of the Goodtimes” at the Frye Museum. This will give you an idea of the lecture. Come if you can.