"The Unforeseen" follows the career of Gary Bradley, an ambitious West Texas farm boy who became one of the state’s most powerful real estate developers, capitalizing on Austin’s boomtown growth beginning in the 1970s. At the peak of his powers, Bradley transformed 4,000 acres of pristine hill country into one of the state's largest and fastest-selling subdivisions. When the development threatened a local treasure, Barton Springs—a natural spring-fed swimming hole—the community fought back. However, when George W. Bush became governor, development laws changed, and the water quality at Barton Springs, as well as the surrounding landscape of Austin, was irreversibly transformed.Featuring interviews with Robert Redford, Willie Nelson, the iconic Texas Governor Ann Richards, acclaimed environmentalist Wendell Berry and many others, "The Unforeseen" is a powerful meditation on the destruction of the natural world and the American Dream as it falls victim to the cannibalizing forces of unchecked development. It is an intricate tale of personal hopes, victories and failures, and of debates over land, economics, property rights and the public good.
The Unforeseen
"The Unforeseen" follows the career of Gary Bradley, an ambitious West Texas farm boy who became one of the state’s most powerful real estate developers, capitalizing on Austin’s boomtown growth beginning in the 1970s. At the peak of his powers, Bradley transformed 4,000 acres of pristine hill country into one of the state's largest and fastest-selling subdivisions. When the development threatened a local treasure, Barton Springs—a natural spring-fed swimming hole—the community fought back. However, when George W. Bush became governor, development laws changed, and the water quality at Barton Springs, as well as the surrounding landscape of Austin, was irreversibly transformed.Featuring interviews with Robert Redford, Willie Nelson, the iconic Texas Governor Ann Richards, acclaimed environmentalist Wendell Berry and many others, "The Unforeseen" is a powerful meditation on the destruction of the natural world and the American Dream as it falls victim to the cannibalizing forces of unchecked development. It is an intricate tale of personal hopes, victories and failures, and of debates over land, economics, property rights and the public good.