Reading is delightful year round, but the phrase “summer beach read” always fills me with a giddy anticipatory pleasure. I’m not sure why. During a two-week New England vacation that landed me on more beaches than I’ve seen in five years, I read approximately 1/3 of one book and 1/2 of another. That’s it. And yet I cling to the … Read More
Issue 13: It Was Like an Episode of Fixer-Upper
This is how my town works. A couple issues back, in this very newsletter, I said the following: My husband complained about a pothole the other day and I thought, “We really need this app.” And within, like, 5 minutes of pressing send on that puppy, Blacksburg’s community relations manager, Heather Browning, emails me. “Hey Melody, we have just what … Read More
Issue 12: You Need a Friend
A few weeks ago, at the Virginia Festival of the Book, I did a placemaking activity where I had passersby fill out cards that said, “I live in ______________ and this is why I love it.” People dashed off answers like: “Diversity & inclusiveness! We welcome everyone!”—Decatur, Georgia “Because the people are welcoming and the food is delicious.”—Houston, Texas “It … Read More
Issue 11: Steal This Strategy
A woman I met told me about moving her family and her mother from California to South Carolina a few months ago, buying and selling “four properties in three cities in two states” in a whirlwind process that left her drained and exhausted. You wouldn’t blame her for holing up in her (river-view) study and practicing yoga breathing for 11 … Read More
Issue 10: The Third Way to Fall in Love with Your Town
There’s a study I talk up all the time that found that you’re most likely to be place attached if your city does three things well: social offerings, aesthetics, and openness. People tend to understand the first two. It’s the third one, openness, that causes problems. Even after I explain that openness means your city welcomes all kinds of residents, … Read More