Product Description

Amidst the swamp and scrub of central Florida, the Disney Corporation has built Celebration, an environmentally friendly place where 20,000 inhabitants can enjoy the old-fashioned virtues of small-town America in a totally modern development. With newly minted antique homes, a post office designed by Michael Graves, stringent regulations banning the hanging of washing outside and For Sale signs on lawns, and piped muzak issuing from the palm trees that line its streets, no detail of Celebration has been left unplanned. And yet, as Andrew Ross discovered in his year-long stay in Celebration, not everything has turned out according to Disney's master scheme. Construction atrocities, a product of contractors using underpaid labor, have tormented homeowners. Ultra-progressive teaching methods at the town school have divided parents into angry, opposing groups. Youth, aware that the town's property values depend on their test scores, mooch disconsolately around the pristine shopping center. Andrew Ross, in The Celebration Chronicles, draws important lessons from a micromanaged urban development and reports, with humor and fascinating detail, on what residents experienced as the best and worst of times.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #958769 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Review
".... Entertaining and insightful. Ross is a raconteur with delicious and often telling anecdotes." -- The New York Times "Our first astronaut-in-residence on Planet Disney returns with astonishing tales of its strange life-form and customs. As an explorer of brave new worlds, Ross is a shrewd cross between Jonathan Swift and C. Wright Mills." - Mike Davis "[A] likeable and an entertaining observer of the social ecology." -- The New Yorker "Moving from a cogent analysis of the town to a multifaceted consideration of the environmental implications of American liberty, The Celebration Chronicles is a masterpiece of American Studies scholarship." - Amazon.com "Refreshingly unacademic ... an astute look at a notable, if in some respects surreal, experiment in community building." -- Publishers Weekly

About the Author
Andrew Ross is the author of various books including No Respect, Strange Weather, The Chicago Gangster Theory of Life and Real Life, as well as the editor of No Sweat.

Customer Reviews

A serious treatment of Disney's planned community.
I have followed the infant years of Celebration, Florida in the press and it was wonderful to read this well written, earnest, and enjoyable book about the real life problems of Snow White's village.

This is an extremely interesting year in the life of a single, childless, downtown New Yorker learning about small town ways - at least, Disney's small town. The author deals with his subject in a very serious manner, this isn't tabloid press with a pretty cover. Ross is highly critical of Disney's motivations and the administration and development of this town. However, unlike the usual Disney bashing, the author references such specific sources that it is difficult not to believe this is an honest representation of how Mickey Mouse, turned residential developer and spin doctor, could have done a much better job.

Ross immersed himself in the community politics of Celebration and appears to have attended every community meeting held during the year he was there. He also endeared himself to a cross section of residents. The book is full of interviews with residents, the management company, and Disney execs among others. It also includes informative references to the original planning documents and pr campaign that attracted the residents. Ross certainly did extensive research for this book.

Amid engaging stories of overpriced and botched houses, a shopping district ill-suited to local needs, background on New Urbanism, and many interesting stories about why the residents moved to the planned Disney community, there are three absorbing in-depth chapters on the town's school. The most daunting part of the book is chapter 12 where Ross discusses the benefits Disney incurred through building Celebration. Apparently, by building Celebration Disney cut a juicy deal and was able to secure 20 years' worth of permits allowing it to continue its "dizzneying" sprawl and develop its existing real estate without regard to future environmental legislation - the affliction of landholders in central Florida. All roads seem to lead to the Tragic Kingdom and Disney has carte blanche to develop central Florida bypassing conventional process. If nothing else, you should read this chapter which details the corporate power of the Mouse.

In the end, it comes across throughout the book that the author seemed to have immensely enjoyed himself in the 'burbs, rubbing elbows with those seeking pixie dust and was able to uncover some truths about the making of this community.

I know Celebration...
Indeed, Dr. Andrew Ross did a spectacular job of capturing and relaying his year at Celebration. He truly was involved in many town meetings, and spent many days in the classrooms and around the school. His interviews were extensive yet enjoyable for everyone. He wasn't just a researcher, he was a part of the town. Nearly every man and woman who came across Dr. Ross was intrigued by his gentle Scottish accent and piercing eyes. His writing style is just as inviting. If you've ever wondered just what it would be like to live in Walt Disney's dream, and a life of pastel colored houses and white picket fences doesn't do it for you, The Celebration Chronicles is the way to go!

Really opened my eyes - well worth every page
This was my first book on the subject of Disney/planned communities/new urbanism, and it really has wet my appetitie.

Andrew Ross is a superb author and the book is beautifully reserched and written. You get the idea he really cares about the town and its residents, while bringing up some interesting and important comments and questions, particulalry regading the idea of planned communities and the controversial school.

It's not a casual read, but neither is it heavy, and is definitely worth it. Even if you're not a major Disney-fan, it is both entertaining and serious.