A video response to Modesto’s repeated rank­ing as the most unliv­able city of its size in the coun­try. Modesto’s prob­lems are many and deep rooted. Yet this rank­ing is in con­trast to its rep­u­ta­tion in the mid-20th cen­tury as a pro­gres­sive com­mu­nity known for cut­ting edge archi­tec­ture and urban design, and as one of the fastest grow­ing cities in the country.

Struc­tured around the city’s offi­cial slo­gan “Water, Wealth, Con­tent­ment, Health” this expressive video explores the city’s liv­abil­ity issues pri­mar­ily through its archi­tec­ture and urban design. A poet­i­c jux­ta­pos­ition high­lighting archi­tec­tural gems of Modesto with res­i­den­tial embod­i­ments of the city’s issues of liv­abil­ity, such as the high rates of home fore­clo­sure, infra­struc­ture inequal­i­ties, poverty, crime, cost of liv­ing, and low rates of income.

Co-Direc­tors: Jes­sica Gomula + Chris­t­ian Hali.