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Downtown Dream

"It's the Economy, Stupid!" • 44m

Directed by Aaron Matthews • Documentary • 2013 • 45 minutes

For decades, small town life in the United States has been quietly eroding. But there are overlooked stories amidst the talk of America's economic decline: the stories of individual men and women in the 'Rust Belt' community in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. Once one of the country's largest steel manufacturing centers, Lewistown lost its manufacturing base and industrial might a generation ago and has since become a 'ghost town.' DOWNTOWN DREAM follows the lives of five dynamic men and women living in Lewistown who refuse to be counted out and instead struggle to reinvent their lives and their dreams in America's chilly economic climate.

The situation in Lewistown mirrors the fate of the nation at this critical point in history. How do Americans make sense of economic and political forces beyond their control? Will they make a go of it and if so, how? In DOWNTOWN DREAM, Jon, Bernard, Pam, Barb and Katie reinvent their dreams in the face of devastation and decay.

"A thought-provoking look at urban struggles in a depressed global economy."—Video LIbrarian

Tags
american studies, americas, anthropology and archaeology, business, doc, downtown dream, econjustice, economic anthropology, economic decline, economic history, economic theory, economy, expository, icarus films, labor and economics, lewistown, mid-atlantic, ovid, ovid_ca, pennsylvania, politics, politics and political science, rust belt, s_0034, s_0035, s_0081, s_0083, s_0084, s_0231, s_0263, s_0280, s_0306, s_0544, small town life, social studies, sociology, the, title_d, title_defgh, unemployement, united states, urban studies, usa, world regions

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