CHRONICLE OF AN AMERICAN SUBURB (2002) is a Documentary profile of Park Forest, IL-- one of the first post WWII suburbs in America. Produced by Acadia Pictures
I loved this video..the Aquacenter, the ballfield, the Plaza, riding bikes all over the place, ice skating on a pond near where the synagog was built, all the tot lots, the clock tower, going to the Forest Preserve with our family, taking the IC into Chicago to go shop..was I only 14 when I started doing that? Does anyone remember the name of the pennycandy store at the Plaza? To begin with, didn't I only pay 9 cents to get into the movies on Saturday? Sara May
I lived there from 1952 to 2002. Went to all the schools there, bought my very first home there in 1972 and added on. Paid it off in 1997. Stayed as long as I could but ultimately HAD to move out. Was victimized 3 times in 4 months. Not the town it was, by any stretch of the imagination. Camelot is dead. There are ghosts everywhere of what it "use" to be. Sad..50 years in a town and now all gone. I'm looking forward now, not back.... A town is only as good as the people who live in it....
Rich south stars rule! Down with the Rockets. Class of 1979. My bike got stolen at the park forest racquet club across the street from Rich East. A beautiful yellow 1974 Schwinn Varsity. Bastards.
I was raised here. It's all true!! I can't tell you what that freedom has meant to me as an adult. If you had a bike, you had the whole town to have fun in. We indeed kept our door unlocked always. I'm so sorry my children and my grandchildren can''t have this. It was tolerant. I learned so much about other people and other ways of living that has stayed with me for a lifetime.
@Tudorp15 very awesome movie!!! VERY well done. I've watched it alot - LOVE the music - so much of the 50's! Please thank him for one who was raised there during the 50's and 60's.
PF was an amazing place for a kid in the 1950s and 1960s. A kid could ride his bike all over safely - from the Aquacenter to the tennis courts to the Plaza. My folks were central in the music world in Park Forest, starting with the homegrown musical about Park Forest produced in the early 1950s ("Analysis in Wonderland"). It has been a bit sad to see the homes deteriorate with age and poverty take over where egalitarian Middle Class values used to be shared by all.
I loved this video..the Aquacenter, the ballfield, the Plaza, riding bikes all over the place, ice skating on a pond near where the synagog was built, all the tot lots, the clock tower, going to the Forest Preserve with our family, taking the IC into Chicago to go shop..was I only 14 when I started doing that? Does anyone remember the name of the pennycandy store at the Plaza? To begin with, didn't I only pay 9 cents to get into the movies on Saturday? Sara May
sararoseman 2 months ago
I lived there from 1952 to 2002. Went to all the schools there, bought my very first home there in 1972 and added on. Paid it off in 1997. Stayed as long as I could but ultimately HAD to move out. Was victimized 3 times in 4 months. Not the town it was, by any stretch of the imagination. Camelot is dead. There are ghosts everywhere of what it "use" to be. Sad..50 years in a town and now all gone. I'm looking forward now, not back.... A town is only as good as the people who live in it....
meezerlover 3 months ago
yes, it was lovely while it lasted... moved there as a baby in 1960, left with my own family in2001
jonsey617 6 months ago
Where can I watch the full version of this?
UserEighteen 7 months ago
Rich south stars rule! Down with the Rockets. Class of 1979. My bike got stolen at the park forest racquet club across the street from Rich East. A beautiful yellow 1974 Schwinn Varsity. Bastards.
bks1979 8 months ago
Rich south stars rule! Down with the Rockets. Class of 1979.
bks1979 8 months ago
I was raised here. It's all true!! I can't tell you what that freedom has meant to me as an adult. If you had a bike, you had the whole town to have fun in. We indeed kept our door unlocked always. I'm so sorry my children and my grandchildren can''t have this. It was tolerant. I learned so much about other people and other ways of living that has stayed with me for a lifetime.
carolily531 9 months ago
@Tudorp15 very awesome movie!!! VERY well done. I've watched it alot - LOVE the music - so much of the 50's! Please thank him for one who was raised there during the 50's and 60's.
musiclady333 1 year ago
I also went to Mohawk school in the early 70's.
casjuke 1 year ago
PF was an amazing place for a kid in the 1950s and 1960s. A kid could ride his bike all over safely - from the Aquacenter to the tennis courts to the Plaza. My folks were central in the music world in Park Forest, starting with the homegrown musical about Park Forest produced in the early 1950s ("Analysis in Wonderland"). It has been a bit sad to see the homes deteriorate with age and poverty take over where egalitarian Middle Class values used to be shared by all.
drdave822 1 year ago