Enabling local affections involves hard work from individuals, locally embedded institutions, a built environment scaled to people, and community-focused habits and practices.
Ever since our country was founded, moving has been in our collective DNA. Every year, 30 million Americans move, and we do so for all kinds of reasons—to get an education, to be closer to (or farther from) family, to be nearer to cultural amenities, and (most often) for a job. And although economists laud our incessant mobility as good for national prosperity, critics are increasingly worried about our apparent inability to be in place.
Rather than lament our national restlessness, Melody Warnick sets out to help nomads like herself in her new book, This Is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live. The wife of an itinerant professor, Warnick has certainly contributed to the statistics on moving herself—her recent move to Blacksburg, VA was number six for her family. But instead of succumbing to loneliness and fatigue, as can be the case with any new move to an unknown place, Warnick decides to not just to get to know her community but to learn how to care for it.
FULL STORY: The Emergence of Place Attachment A Review of Melody's Warnick's "This is Where You Belong"
Marrying Urban Identity and Economic Prosperity
A new book posits that truly successful communities have a strong economic base and a firmly rooted sense of place.
Columbia’s Revitalized ‘Loop’ Is a Hub for Local Entrepreneurs
A focus on small businesses is helping a commercial corridor in Columbia, Missouri thrive.
Appreciating Rural Cultural Resources
A focus on ‘placemaking’ too often obscures or exploits local culture and history.
Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.
Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation
California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.
Congress Moves to End Reconnecting Communities and Related Grants
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee moved to rescind funding for the Neighborhood Equity and Access program, which funds highway removals, freeway caps, transit projects, pedestrian infrastructure, and more.
From Throughway to Public Space: Taking Back the American Street
How the Covid-19 pandemic taught us new ways to reclaim city streets from cars.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Ada County Highway District
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service