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Title details for This Is Where You Belong by Melody Warnick - Available

This Is Where You Belong

The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live

by Melody Warnick
Carrington MacDuffie
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
2 of 2 copies available
In the spirit of Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project and Eric Weiner's The Geography of Bliss, a journalist embarks on a project to discover what it takes to love where you live.The average restless American will move 11.7 times in a lifetime. For Melody Warnick, it was her sixth move, from Austin, Texas, to Blacksburg, Virginia, that threatened to unhinge her. In the lonely aftermath of unpacking, she wondered: Aren't we supposed to put down roots at some point? How does the place we live become the place we want to stay? This time she had an epiphany. Rather than hold her breath and hope this new town would be her family's perfect fit, she would figure out how to fall in love with it—no matter what. How we come to feel at home in our towns and cities is what Warnick sets out to discover in This Is Where You Belong. She dives into the body of research around place attachment—the deep sense of connection that binds some of us to our cities and increases our physical and emotional well-being—then travels to towns across America to see it in action. Inspired by a growing movement of placemaking, she examines what its practitioners are doing to create likable locales. She also speaks with frequent movers and loyal stayers around the country to learn what draws highly mobile Americans to a new city, and what makes us stay. The best ideas she imports to her adopted hometown of Blacksburg for a series of "Love Where You Live" experiments designed to make her feel more locally connected: dining with her neighbors, shopping Small Business Saturday, marching in the town Christmas parade. Can these efforts make a halfhearted resident happier? Will Blacksburg be the place she finally stays? What Warnick learns will inspire you to embrace your own community—and perhaps discover that the place where you live right now ... is home.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    July 5, 2016

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781504744799
      • File size: 284962 KB
      • Duration: 09:53:40

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Carrington MacDuffie elevates this production to a fun and motivating listen. Melody Warnick decides she is going to fall in love with her new town, Blacksburg, Virginia, after a transient lifestyle. She conducts experiments to make herself feel more connected, but the strategies all feel a bit obvious: shop locally, join a community supported agriculture group, practice random acts of kindness, volunteer, donate, hike, invite the neighbors for a potluck. With enthusiasm, authenticity, and sheer likability, MacDuffie brings to life the delight of handing out muffins on Good Neighbor Day and wearing cat ears in the town parade, as well as sensitively expressing the impact of the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech on residents of Blacksburg (which occurred before Warnick moved there). You'll finish listening and then start thinking about what you can do for your community. A.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 21, 2016
      Prompted by a move to Blacksburg, Va., for her husband’s job, journalist Warnick set out to discover how a place becomes home, synthesizing research and personal stories into a guide to better appreciating one’s community. She encourages choosing small businesses over big-box retailers, volunteering with local organizations and government, and participating in farmer’s markets and group agricultural programs. Her feel-good stories of community bonding include a Kentucky town rallying to help a beloved grocer save his store and a New York City transplant’s efforts to build an art center in the low-income, hurricane-ravaged upstate N.Y. town of Prattsville. Warnick’s own charming journey finds her sheepishly distributing muffins on “Good Neighbor Day,” learning to embrace Blacksburg’s sports culture, and attempting to become a “regular” at a local restaurant. In the most emotionally affecting chapter, Warnick considers the effects of tragedy on a community, speaking with people displaced by Hurricane Katrina and with Blacksburg residents affected by the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech. Warnick’s sociological research and anecdotal experiments provide an informative and entertaining read, along with an abundance of practical tools for those settling in after a move or just looking to shake things up in their hometown. Agent: Lisa Grubka, Fletcher & Company.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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