Texas Hill Country Development makes Sunday NY Times
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The Kickoff:
NEARLY two decades ago, Gene and Linda Lowenthal, who were living in Austin, decided that they would eventually want to move to the wide-open countryside. They bought 58 acres in this small town in the Texas Hill Country, about 45 minutes west of Austin, built a small house and moved here in the mid-’90s, finally free of noise and sprawl.
That freedom lasted about nine years. Then, bulldozers started appearing on hillsides once covered with live oak and mesquite trees. Houses and traffic lights popped up on once-forlorn roads leading to their home. Plans for a water line were drawn.
The Lowenthals had to choose: stay, or travel farther out into the Hill Country. “We just wanted a small house where we could enjoy the land and be left alone,” Mrs. Lowenthal said. “People could look at us and say, ‘Your land is worth 10 times more than what you paid.’ But what we wanted is going to be gone.”
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About The Unforeseen
The Unforeseen, executive produced by Terrence Malick and Robert Redford, premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Called "the best film at the festival, hands down" by Film Comment's Gavin Smith, the film documents the struggles between development and preservation of Austin Texas.