A prize-winning reporter, his wife, and their two kids describe life in Disney's vision of the future.
In 1997, six months after the first residents had moved into Celebration, Florida-Disney's town of the future with its distinctly retro link to a longed-for past-Doug and Cathy and their two kids closed on their new home and settled down to participate in (and observe) this new venture. Their report from the trenches will surprise both Disney haters and Disney fans.
What is it like to start a new community-not a suburb or subdivision, but a town, inted to be a self-supporting community with the best of the new technologies (including the very latest in teaching techniques) and the most cherished elements in American towns that existed before the automobile turned everything into a mall? For almost two years the family lived this experiment firsthand. Their report is vivid, funny, and painful-and it tells us as much about ourselves and our hopes and dreams as it does about the daily reality of building a community from the ground up.
It's not that easy to build utopia - even when you're Disney May 25, 2008 On a trip to Disney World my mother and I stumbled upon Celebration when she felt like driving around the neighborhood we were in. We had no idea it was a Disney community - no large signs broadcast it. We only knew that we felt we'd stumbled into a lovely, retro neighborhood straight from a 50's TV show (that should have been a clue, I guess). None the less, we celebrated her 50th birthday at a Cuban restaurant there and were enchanted.
When I saw this book about a couple who had lived there and had the inside scoop on the community inspired by Disney's original vision of having people live in Disney world type utopia atmosphere - I had to read it. I wasn't dissappointed. I didn't find like others that the writers bashed Diseny. In fact, I thought it was a pretty realistic picture of how communities develop and that even in one created to be more of a utopia - well, life is life, people are people and the real world still has to be dealt with. Some people have made celebration their utopia - and work to continually improve it, others expected it utopia to be given them from Disney (and well, good luck on that). I thoroughly enjoyed this couples recount of their experiment of living there.
Connecticut Yankees in Disney's New Town February 23, 2005 9 out of 12 found this review helpful
Frantz and Collins provide a somewhat interesting but ultimately jumbled appraisal of Disney's planned community just south of the Walt Disney World resort. Part of the problem rests in the dual authorship of the book. Although the narrator constantly writes in the first person, he/she also speaks of him/herself in the third person, often in the same sentence. The result is somewhat alienating.
Another structural problem lies in the chapter organization. There are a number of charming and highly personal anecdotes spread throughout the book which introduce the audience to the unique denizens of Celebration, but there's little attempt to link the characters established in earlier chapters to those who play an active role in the narrative further down the line. As a result, the reader never gains a rounded, in-depth appreciation of any single person or family within the community, which is a real shame because the human component is the most compelling aspect of the book.
Less compelling are the authors' frequently patronizing attitude toward the middle-class inhabitants of Celebration. In a laughably paternalistic chapter addressing racism, the authors bemoan the fact that Celebration is not ethnically diverse and fear that their children are somehow worse off for lack of exposure to black families. In a similar vein, they criticize the Walt Disney Company for refusing to sell houses below market value or institute rent controls in order to artificially introduce a lower income demographic into the community. This last complaint is quite odd considering that the authors often bemoan the "forced" qualities of the community.
Ultimately, the book is not as critical of Disney as some might imagine (or hope), but some of the criticisms leveled at the company are simply too programmed to take at face value. Readers looking for interesting anecdotes about life in a planned community will find some morsels of intrigue here, but readers looking for a comprehensive book detailing the development, politics and future of Celebration, Florida are advised to look elsewhere.
Loved It![.] January 31, 2003 3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I read this book AFTER visiting Celebration, Florida. I was interested in more background info and details. We walked down the Main St of town and thought "this is nice" but not very practical. Practical is shopping in [local store] and buying groceries in[local store]. The days of the corner grocer and little hardware store on Main St are long gone so I was curious about the opinions of the author and his neighbors. This is a great story - it seems to be unbiased and does provide good background info on the town without making it boring. The author nicely weaves little stories about the town or tales of the neighbors into this "documentary" to keep the story moving. I know this book is not for everybody but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It's also a great commentary on planned communities in general although I'm not sure that was what the authors intended.
Not as hostile as some think January 24, 2001 4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Unlike some of the earlier reviewers, I didn't think this was anti-Disney or anti-Celebration. After reading it, I almost wanted to move to Celebration myself! (If it had decent transit connections to Orlando it could be paradise). The authors' love for the place showed through, and the only thing that mystified me was why they left.
The authors do discuss the very real problems with Celebration's schools and construction; this part of the book could have benefited from a comparison with traditional suburbs, to show readers that Celebration's problems exist in typical suburban sprawl as well -- as anyone who saw what Hurricane Andrew did to Miami's sprawl houses knows!
well written, but not too deep October 18, 2000 9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Earlier this year, i was going to be in Orlando for a conference and wanted to visit Celebration as i have an interest, both personal and professional, in urban design. I read Celebration, U.S.A. before i went. I think that my visit was enriched by having read this book before i went.
I found the book provides an interesting and useful introduction to Celebration and New Urbanism. Frantz and Collins provide an narrative history of the development of Celebration as well as an interesting introduction to New Urbanism, etc. We experience alot from the personal leve. They write very well and the book moves readily along. They describe numerous problems with Celebration as well as how the expectations of many residents shaped their reaction to Celebration. It is a fairly fun book, though a little too upbeat at times.
On the other hand, the depth of analysis isn't there and, given the market that this book is directed at, probably wasn't intended to be there.
As an introduction to Celebration and an alternative approach to urban design, this book is worth it. Just don't expect too much.
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