Parlaying one into two

A friend (hey Sub) gently chided me for not posting regularly enough. A theme of this blog? Many apologies. But truly, and excitingly, I’ve been busy. I’m working on a couple stories right now, both of which, by turns, have me enthused and freaked out and going a mile-a-minute.

There’s a little bit of a back story here, and one that further emphasized for me the importance of persistence. Among the many urban development projects in Medellin, the Parques Bibliotecas (Library Parks) interest me the most. The Parks are essentially giant, beautiful community centers built in the heart of some of the most difficult parts of the city. In addition to providing computers, books, cultural programming, and classes, the Parques are also a sly way for the state to gain some ground in these troubled neighborhoods. In effect, these Parks grant the government access to neighborhoods that were previously off-limits. It might be best to think of each Park as a social service distribution center, a doorway into a community that has a history of mistrusting the government.

Of course I wanted to pitch something around the Parques. My first idea was to try Ode Magazine. Ode looks at innovative and inspiring solutions to problems around the world. Perfect, no? Well, I went ahead and sent the pitch and then … nothing. No word. A couple weeks later I sent a follow-up. Nada. I sent another follow-up (yup, I’m persistent). I still hadn’t heard, so finally I sent an email withdrawing the pitch. Maybe it wasn’t right for them.

Next I pitched Miller-McCune, which looks at policy issues and, like Ode, innovative solutions to difficult problems (pitch below). It took a while, but I finally heard back from an editor (the editor I pitched, whose info I got from MediaBistro.com, no longer works there, by the way; email me for correct contact info if you’re interested). They wanted the Parques story and needed it turned around quickly (about a month). Great. I knew I could pound the pavement and get the story finished.

And then, out of the blue, I got an email from (trumpets) an editor at Ode Magazine. They said they were interested in the Parques story (despite my having withdrawn it) and wanted to know if I’d sold it elsewhere. Ethics being what they are, I couldn’t in good conscience submit two Parques stories. Even if I took an angle on each, they’d inevitably merge or else be so hyper-specific that each would suffer. Damn.

Regardless, all of a sudden I found myself with an open line to an editor at Ode. I didn’t have a pitch ready that would be a good substitute for the Parques story, but by this point I had already interviewed a couple people about the Library Parks and urban development in Medellin. One theme that kept coming up was that the Parques were part of a much larger network of development. At heart, that network allowed for mobility (mobility of people, of resources, mobility as metaphor). So, I sat down and whipped up a pitch about mobility (also below). And guess what … I’ve got myself a feature assignment. This one also has a quick turnaround, so I’m swamped. But swamped is a good thing.

For all who are interested, here are the pitches for the Parques piece and for the rabbit-out-of-the-hat Mobility piece (which, it turns out, is a really cool topic to investigate). Hope you find them helpful!

Hi XXXX,

How does a city go from having the highest murder rate in the world in 1991 to being a bona fide tourist destination in the second decade of the 21st century? There’s no single answer, of course, but more than any other factor, residents of Medellín, Colombia credit the city’s ambitious public architecture projects, especially those implemented under wildly popular former mayor Sergio Fejardo (2004-2007).

The most compelling and successful of these projects are the Parques Bibliotecas (Library Parks). The central tenet of the Library Park model is to join architecturally ambitious buildings with green space to provide centers of learning and civic engagement in Medellín’s poorest neighborhoods, as well as to attract tourists, intellectuals, and entrepreneurs to areas of the city that were traditionally “off limits.”

To date, five Library Parks have been built, giving Medellín’s historically neglected citizens access to 90,000 books, 1,200 computers, and 1,035 auditorium seats. More than mere repositories, however, the Parks have become centers of education and important contact points between residents and family service programs. With increased foot traffic, local economies are booming. In one local’s words, the Parque España, which opened in 2007, has promoted “a night and day change” in the neighborhood of Santo Domingo Savio, allowing children to “play in streets where there used to be gun battles.” 

With the development of five additional Parks jeopardized by the politics of Medellín’s forthcoming mayoral election, this is an important time to investigate the project’s history, impact, and future, as well as the viability of implementing similar projects in urban settings in the U.S. and around the world. I propose to do just that in a 2,000 word piece for Miller-McCune. Interviewing architects, city officials, and program directors — several of whom I’m already in contact with — I will look into the origins and development of the LibraryPark project. In the course of my investigation, I will spend time with residents of local communities to get an on-the-ground perspective of the project’s impact.

I have worked as an arts and entertainment writer for the Santa Barbara Independent and as a freelance reporter, photographer, and editor. You can find my most recent published article at the bottom of this post: http://fieldblog.com/2011/07/12/keeping-the-tools-sharp/. To give you a better idea of my voice, I’m attaching a draft of a feature-in-progress. I recently arrived in Medellín, where I’m wrapping up an assignment for Flower Magazine. I plan to work from Medellín through the spring of 2012 and will not need reimbursement for international travel.

Thanks, XXXX, for your time and consideration. I’d love the opportunity to write for Miller-McCune and this story seems like a good fit. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the idea further, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Greg Nichols

Hi XXXX,

I would very much like to work with Ode and I’ve got an idea I’d love to run by you. Unfortunately, after withdrawing my pitch, I sold the Parques story elsewhere — I’m doing a narrow focus on the history of one of the five Parques in 1000 words. However, there’s another story I keep coming back to that resonates much more powerfully with what you seem interested in. 

Medellín’s redevelopment in the last decade is about one thing: mobility. Underlying important public works projects like Medellín’s mountain-spanning metrocables, innovative urban parks, army of cogestoras (social workers), and re-purposed green space is the idea that mobility, the capacity for people and resources to move around a city, is the path toward modernity. This is the fundamental tenet in the philosophy of Alejandro Echeverri, former Director of Urban Projects for Mayor Sergio Fajardo and the man most responsible for what Medellin has become: a modern city in the midst of spirited recovery. 

While the idea of creating social progress through mobility is not new, what is unprecedented is Echeverri’s wholistic vision. In Medellin today there exists a network of development that physically blankets the city — a giant and well-planned grid of social improvement. Impressive individual projects — such as the Parques Bibliotecas — have garnered a lot of attention, but few commentators have pointed out that the Parques, as well as the famed Botanical Gardens, the metro system expansion, the focused development of bike lanes and walking paths, targeted economic investment along specific ribbons in the city, and dozens of other urban works projects — all seemingly hyper-local assets — are actually part of a single plan masterminded by Alejandro Echeverri and aimed at creating a mobile society. With concrete, sod, and fiber optic lines, Medellin has literally given its citizens ways to traverse, and therefore influence, their city. 

The results have been dramatic. From huge reductions in crime to burgeoning micro-enterprise in previously isolated barrios, from access to health and education resources to a boom in tourism, mobility is overcoming some of urbanization’s most entrenched and universal problems.

XXXX, I’d very much like to explain how Medellin has done this and how other struggling city’s might follow suit — some already have. In addition to Alejandro Echeverri, I plan to speak with architects and urban planners, social workers, and Medellin’s large public and semi-public development organizations, all of whom have played important roles in developing a network of mobility in Medellin.

Thanks for your time, XXXX. I think this idea would be a great fit for Ode and I’d love to discuss it further.

Best,

Greg