Braddock, PA -- City of Magic
Braddock, PA -- City of MagicFilmmaker Tony Buba has made 12 documentaries about his hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania. As he says, "David Lynch goes into suburban neighborhoods and finds the decay behind the scenes. I go into decaying neighborhoods and find the life." In the late 19th and early 20th centuries European immigrants came to Braddock and the towns around Pittsburgh to work the steel mills. Now the steel industry is nearly dead and Braddock is the typical post-industrial small town, with a boarded up main street and declining population. Producer Dan Collison follows Buba through the streets of Braddock, where he talks with some of the inhabitants about their hopes for the city, their memories of the past, and their plans for a seemingly hopeless future. Buba finds little despair and a lot of positive thinking, along with plans to restore Braddock's Carnegie Library.