I know they are sites of capitalism, but when I go to the mall, I’m there to find things I need to make my own tools of system dismantlement and comforts through the storm. As we re-examine many of these spaces, they will thrive only if we see them as
Letting Go Of Being a Hometown Heroine And Embrancing My Role as an American Expat in America.
I never thought I would ever live or work outside of Greensboro again. I’ve always felt like if I wasn’t there that the city wouldn’t figure out how to fix itself. That if my work didn’t have a connection to home or if it wasn’t respected at home, then it
By Kristen Jeffers
Atlanta/Brooklyn/Cities/Cityreads/Cleveland/creative placemaking/DC/Durham/Government/Greensboro/Housing/Links/miami/Rail/Raleigh
Placebook: The Little Blue Walking Dot
Hey Hey, it’s Friday! And with that, I’m looking forward to a quiet evening of sewing at home with my mom and a Saturday and Sunday filled with who knows what else? In the meantime, I know at least one day of this weekend I’ll be a part of Greensboro’s
By Kristen Jeffers
Book Club/Cities/DC/Durham/Greensboro/Links/Minneapolis-St. Paul/New York City/Wishes
Placebook: Wishes for 2014
Good Monday morning everyone! I hope you had the weekend you needed to have. I hope that weekend includes not being frozen. I spent my weekend mostly at home, but I got out and introduced a friend to Scuppernong Books. Scuppernong has inspired one of my wishes for 2014 for
By Kristen Jeffers
Alexandria/Arts Districts/Atlanta/Cities/Cleveland/downtown/Durham/Greensboro/Jobs/Links/miami/New York City/Pittsburgh/Raleigh/Retail/Transportation
Placebook: Snow, Maybe?
Good Friday morning folks! Some of you are snowed in. Some of you are just cold. Count me in the cold bunch. If you want a good laugh, take a look at my account of what happens when we actually do get snow down South. Whatever is going on outside,
Coming Back to the Streets, Coming Back to Action
Doing my part to create better blocks in my two hometowns.
By Kristen Jeffers
Cities/Durham/Greensboro/Issues and Ideas/Politics of Place/Transportation/What is urban planning?
North Carolina- A Microcosm of the Nation
North Carolina, my home state,represents a microcosm of the nation. How does it do that? Land use,economic development patterns, and population. Land Use Within a 7 hour drive, one could be at the peak of a mountain or digging their feet under sea level. In between there are rivers, lakes,
Actually Being Urban #2- Finding Diversity and Cleaning Clothes At the Laundromat
So your clothes are dirty. The hamper is overflowing. No big deal right? The washer and dryer are in the closet. Or maybe you have to lug them downstairs, but nevertheless, laundry machines are never too far away. Unless you are me and living in Downtown Greensboro, without the rental
Photospiration: Find Your Cool In Durham
What is cool? There’s a new book about that, but it’s focused primarly on African-Americans. What about everyone else? What makes something cool? Why are people coming back downtown? This sign on the back of a building in Durham invites people to come to their main street and find
Durham, The City As A Bull
I couldn’t talk about Raleigh without talking about Durham. Durham is known locally as the Bull City. Looking at the logic I applied to Raleigh, I found that Durham has community characteristics that resemble it’s nickname. These characteristics are not so much in how the city is shaped, but how
