What does Groundhog Day have anything to do with how Williamsburg would look like in 50 years? Frankly, not much. Punxutawney, Pennsylvania is a far cry from the hip neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. But, there is something to be said about that endless loop of Phil Connors's day and how we attempt to re/imagine the future.
I'm not sure how Williamsburg would look like. I don't think it'll be a dystopic scenario. It will probably look like the Meatpacking District today -- out with the small businesses, the indie musicians, the artists, the young hipsters (the last time I checked, I think most of them are already priced out), the small remaining enclaves where you do see some lower-income, mixed residents, fuggetaboutit! In its place will be more of the same -- the luxury condominiums and so-called "artist lofts", the exclusive clubs and restaurants, and fancy stores and mega-malls. They'll be some beautiful public spaces and parks, to be sure. They always seem to soften the blow by giving the rest of us a nice park. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed a couple of outdoor performances at the Williamsburg Waterfront this past summer. Never mind the fact that I had to hop on three different subway lines to get there from my humble neighborhood of Elmhurst, Queens. Oh, and for full disclosure, my favorite brunch/lunch spot is Egg in Williamsburg.
Development is inevitable. Money and power will remain. Low income residents will be priced out. There will be sterility and generic-looking blocks. As in Bill Murray's character in the film, every day is Groundhog Day. He relives the same day over and over again. There is no future as he knows it; no consequences of the day's actions. He steals, fools women, and breaks the law.
Well, then, should we not bother to conserve or re-think the way we frame and use space? But inevitability doesn't mean recklessness either. Phil quickly discovers that by merely finding commonalities to impress his love interest, he forgets that he must first get to know her. It's not about accepting the inevitable but rather how can one possibly tweak it to make it work better and more efficiently.
In the film, the same events unfold repeatedly, some can be altered while some cannot. He arrives at the precise moment to catch the boy as he falls off the tree. But when he attempts to prevent the death of a homeless man, he fails because it's "just his time". He is but a singular object moving in multiple layers of possibility, each with its own set of rules. Perhaps, in imagining the future, one needs to first rethink our approach of the present.
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