"In Frank Capra's "It A Wonderful Life," for the super-rich banker, Mr. Potter, the town of Bedford Falls was poised on ruin because of the non-sensible lending policies of the town's saving and loan, which continually made home loans to working people that built a community that sustained the town. A misplaced deposit leads the saving and loan to insolvency, causing its beleaguered manager, Jimmy Stewart, to wish he were dead. An angel is empowered to make the wish seem to come true, to show Stewart how his loss would affect others."
"To illustrate what life would have been in Bedford Falls without him, the angel sends him to the Bedford Falls that never had him, now named "Potterville." Potterville's main shopping street was lined with bars and night-time entertainment venues of various types, not the retail shops selling goods to locals that was Bedford Falls main street. Stewart comes to his senses and the angel switches the town back to Bedford Falls, where the community pours donations to the saving and loan, which saves it from ruin."
"Mayor Lurie's re-zoning plan, now set for Planning Commission approval September 11, has all the sensibility of a "Potterville" transformation of San Francisco: a rabid disdain for the "starry-eyed dreamers" of San Francisco who currently live in the city's neighborhoods ("othered" as Nimbys), and a deep kiss on the lips of the "common sense" real estate investors eager to displace the current "discontented rabble" with a whole new set of up-market highrise towers full, not only of upscale housing but also various new "commercial uses"-all planne"
Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life depicts Mr. Potter condemning idealistic lending while the local savings-and-loan supports working-class homeownership and community stability. A misplaced deposit drives the savings-and-loan toward insolvency, prompting its manager Jimmy Stewart to despair; an angel shows him an alternate 'Potterville' where neighborhood retail gives way to bars and nightlife. The film resolves when community donations save the institution. Mayor Lurie's rezoning is likened to a Potterville transformation that favors investors, enables up-market high-rises and new commercial uses, and risks displacing long-standing residents labeled as 'starry-eyed dreamers' or a 'discontented rabble'.
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