(Almost) Everything you need to know about main streets 
and town planning is... on the movie set of
The Music Man?

Films have a way of distilling various shades of good and bad in real life into simple, tangible images. When Meredith Willson's The Music Man jumped to the big screen from its sensational Broadway run in 1962, the production demanded that a "real" River City be constructed on a Hollywood lot, far exceeding the modest stage sets used on Broadway. Willson and director Morton DaCosta created an incredibly elaborate vision of River City, the fictional, idealized turn-of-the-century town based on Willson's hometown of Mason City, Iowa.

The set was nearly a town in its own right, with streets and parks built to full scale against a backdrop of storefronts, churches, schools, the town library and City Hall. Buildings were carefully oriented toward the street, just like the turn-of-the-century buildings in Mason City. No expense was spared on re-creating the look and function of River City's streets, including paved sidewalks, street trees, street lamps, benches and landscape strips. The result was not a plastic Disney cliche, but instead a gorgeous, inviting vision of Americana.

While some of the details might be built differently today, River City is the picture of so-called "new urbanism", or what many prefer to simply call traditional town planning. The photo gallery below illustrates twelve valuable principles from River City that should be used in every town and main street of the 21st century.

A fun group exercise for citizens or local officials interested in renewing their own main street or town center is make an informal event of simply watching the film. Scribes can list town features and activities on posterboard that might work in YOUR "River City" as you enjoy the movie... but don't forget plenty of popcorn for this activity!