This Is Where You Belong: A Conversation with Author Melody Warnick
“If you want to love where you live, act like someone who loves where they live.”
Here at Strong Towns, we believe strongly in the connective bond that can be nurtured between a person and his or her community. We also believe that Melody Warnick, author of This Is Where You Belong, has written an essential book on just that topic.
This Is Where You Belong, explores the groundbreaking concept of place attachment. Warnick and her book have been featured in Time, Fast Company, Psychology Today, and Forbes.com, among other publications. Warnick is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in The Guardian, Atlantic CityLab, Quartz, Reader’s Digest, O: The Oprah Magazine, Redbook, and Better Homes and Gardens, to name just a few.
Melody Warnick was our featured guest on the October 2019 edition of Ask Strong Towns, a live ask-me-anything webcast for Strong Towns members.
We’re pleased to share the webcast video with you here. The conversation is also available below as an episode of the It’s the Little Things podcast.
Questions Addressed in This Webcast
5:45 - What had you experienced in your own life that inspired you to write this book?
10:45 - The average American moves eleven times. How did we get to this point as a culture, where we’re always trying to find the next place?
16:45 - Why does it often take extra effort after a move to find that "place attachment” you talk about?
21:00 - One of the lines from the book is, "If you want to love where you live, act like someone who loves where they live." What was that like for you when you first moved to Blacksburg, Virginia? Some of the amenities there weren’t necessary in line with your immediate interests.
26:10 - Have you found that as people get more involved in activities, that there are people who tend meet them halfway and welcome them in?
29:15 - These acts of place attachment — the “Love Where You Live” experiments — seem to have a ripple effect in the community. Have you noticed that?
33:15 - What are some low-lift public investments that city can make that will help people love their place?
41:05 - What about someone who has been trying to put down roots in their city but found the ground really hard. At what point do they try somewhere else rather than persevere where they are?
49:00 - Could you talk about the physical spaces that help or hinder the efforts you suggest toward becoming more attached to our places?
Want to continue the conversation with Warnick? Here is where to connect with her online:
Also mentioned in this edition of Celebrity Ask Strong Towns: