Our Towns Flyer October Edition
Goodbye to gas-powered leaf blowers. Community-based craft spirits.
Starting out with the best news of all from Washington, D.C. this early autumn: The gas-powered leaf blowers are officially gone! And unofficially, we D.C. residents estimate that about 90% of people have gotten the message that gas-powered leaf blowers are illegal here. Imagine heading out for a walk and expecting it to be quiet on the streets and sidewalks. The law was very long in coming – 3 years in the making, and 3 years of warning. But it was worth the wait.
And one more thing about the leaf blowers: Last year at this time, Jim would say, “I can’t stand it; we need to move out of D.C.” Now he says, “We can never move away. There’s no place else we can go.” I know that what he actually meant to say was: “We can’t wait until more places follow this example!” Plenty of other towns are starting to. We urge everyone to hop on to this bandwagon.
In the same spirit of progress, we are making some changes at Our Towns. For the most scrutinizing followers among you, you’ll have noticed that our home page is different. We are presenting two themes that we believe in most strongly: Communities That Work and Reports From America.
In the first section, you’ll find the stories of citizen-driven initiatives that are changing towns for the better. On the landing page for “Communities,” you’ll find rotations of our favorite topics, from the environment and sustainability to youth-in-action to libraries-as-pioneers, and how they affect the life of towns.
In the second section, you’ll find stories from all across the country. They are real stories, from real people, representing real America. And they really come from all over the place. On the landing page for “Reports,” you’ll find storymaps that signal a new kind of journalism, or student newspapers that are taking up the mantle as city papers, or how beer is changing life one brew at a time.
We have a big mission here: we are trying to balance out the stories we hear too much about every single day with stories we don’t hear nearly enough of. Balance the true bad news with true positive news. Ultimately, we are pushing – urgently – toward a new, more inclusive portrait of America.
Connect the dots from battery-powered leaf blowers to the story of America. Make your own dot!
REPORTS FROM AMERICA
ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY
WHAT’S THE QUICKEST WAY TO MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE, THROUGH A LITTLE STEP? IT’S RIGHT THERE IN THE BACKYARD.
BY JAMES FALLOWS
It’s time for the dirtiest machinery still in legal use, gas-powered leaf blowers, to go away, making way for battery-powered leaf blowers (like the one seen above in Washington, D.C.). News from communities across America indicate that the shift away from these machines is happening, and it is speeding up.
READ MORE >
REPORTS FROM AMERICA
ANOTHER LOOK INTO THE ‘HEART’ OF AMERICA
BY JAMES FALLOWS
What's the 'center' of America? Jim Fallows writes about a new Census Story Map that highlights the story of America’s changing geographic center – and the country's struggle to recognize ways in which it is changing.
READ MORE >
PODCAST
INSIDE OUR TOWNS: ALLEN CARROLL AND STORY MAPS
BY EVAN SANFORD
Allen Carrol, the creator of Esri's story maps, discusses the origin and evolution of the innovative storytelling tool with Evan Sanford.
READ MORE >
COMMUNITIES THAT WORK
ENTREPRENEURS & MAKERS
UPLIFTING AMERICAN SPIRITS
BY CARL W. HUNT
From reusing local honey barrels to feeding spent grain to livestock, Branch & Barrel Distilling, in Centennial, Colorado, shows how an interdependent community-based economy can raise spirits for an entire region.
READ MORE >
ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY
A DELICATE BALANCE – MARRYING RECREATION AND PRESERVATION IN IOWA
BY RACHEL CRAMER, The Daily Yonder
Local climbing coalition and authorities found a way to collaborate and keep access to a popular climbing area and preserve the environment.
READ MORE >
ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY
UW STUDENT PROJECT AIMS TO SPUR CLIMATE CHANGE CONVERSATIONS
BY DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER, WyoFile.com
One way to tone down contentious discussions about climate change is to include new voices. A new website encourages people to take part in conversations about a changing environment.
READ MORE >
UPCOMING EVENTS
ONLINE
WHAT DO COLLEGES DO FOR THEIR COMMUNITIES - AND THE COUNTRY?
WEDNESDAY, OCT 12 AT 1:00P.M. EDT
'What can colleges do for the country?' is an important question to ask, and a powerful theme explored in The Washington Monthly's annual college rankings issue.
Tune into a conversation hosted by New America featuring James and Deborah Fallows alongside Dr. Pam Eddinger, Illias Gomez, Paul Glastris, and Michelle Asha Cooper.
REGISTER NOW >
IN-PERSON
BETSY K. MCCREIGHT LECTURE IN THE HUMANITIES
THURSDAY, OCT 20 AT 7:30P.M. EDT
On Thursday, Oct. 20, Deborah and James Fallows will be in Charleston, West Virginia to deliver the Betsy K. McCreight Lecture in the Humanities. The event honors the late Board of Directors founding member of the West Virginia Humanities Council. Past presenters include Ken Burns, Joyce Carol Oates, Joseph Ellis, Sylvia Nasar, Henry Louis Gates, Elaine Pagels, Gordon Wood, James McPherson, Edmund Morris, and Annette Gordon-Reed.
LEARN MORE >
IN-PERSON
OUR TOWNS - CEDAR RAPIDS METRO ECONOMIC ALLIANCE
WEDNESDAY, OCT 26 AT 9:30A.M. CST
In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jim and Deb will be the featured guests during an hour and a half panel with Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell and Downtown SSMID (Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District) leadership. The event, held on Wednesday, Oct. 26 in the Downtown Cedar Rapids Public Library, will touch on the lessons the Fallows have learned from their travels and shared through their storytelling.
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IN-PERSON
HOW AMERICA'S TOWNS ARE WRITING THE FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY - AND MORE
THURSDAY, NOV 10 AT 7:30P.M. EST
Our Towns is proud to showcase our latest reporting in person in Erie, Pennsylvania at the Jefferson Educational Society’s Global Summit. We will focus on local heroes who are part of change and renewal in communities in a panel discussion featuring Community Heart & Soul members.
Our Towns is working with the JES, a community-based think tank headquartered in Erie, to help grow the Global Summit’s reach. This includes a series of programs in Redlands, California – the inaugural site of the Summit’s in-person expansion, as well as live-streaming options.
The Summit launches in Erie in October, and in Redlands in November. We will be sharing more details on our website soon.
REGISTER NOW >