City Makers: American Futures

The people, organizations, and ideas reshaping the country. A journey piloted by James Fallows with Deborah Fallows.

The Generational Difference in Optimism: A Video Look

I hope you'll check out the second in the series of short films that The Atlantic’s video team has…
- James Fallows
- Oct 25, 2016
- Notes
Are America's Small Towns Really Struggling?

A tour of three cities that are finding unique ways to mitigate the country's jobs crisis
- Nicolas Pollock, James Fallows, and Deborah Fallows
- Oct 24, 2016

Is America in a Boiling Fury About Immigration? Not the America I Have Seen

Over the past year-plus my wife Deb and I have been arguing that the “build a wall!”-style anti-immigration…
- James Fallows
- Oct 22, 2016
- Notes
And Now for Something Saner and More Positive: Fresno, Erie

Not to over-personalize, but I feel as if my life in the past few weeks recapitulates the argument my wife…
- James Fallows
- Oct 12, 2016
- Notes
Deborah Fallows

Life in the Air

Getting from here to there by small plane
- Deborah Fallows
- Sep 28, 2016
Wikimedia

Old City, Old Buildings, New Life

An art museum with a long history reinvents itself with passion and an entrepreneurial spirit.
- Deborah Fallows
- Sep 25, 2016

Beyond Books: Libraries Reach Out to the Public

During our American Futures tour around the country over the past three years, Jim and I have seen libraries, one…
- Deborah Fallows
- Sep 14, 2016
- Notes
Boston Public Library Tichnor Brothers collection

The Ebbs and Flows of Coastal Maine

Quoddy Village was built ahead of its time.
- Deborah Fallows
- Sep 14, 2016
Mark Fainstein

Erie's Unlikely Benefactor: Its Casino

Legalized gambling is a familiar part of the modern American landscape. But an innovative scheme in a lakeside city in western Pennsylvania shows new possibilities for putting casino revenue to positive public use.
- James Fallows
- Sep 11, 2016
Cattle Drives in Down East Maine

Last night my wife Deb put up a report called “Little Town, Big Art.” It’s about how a…
- James Fallows
- Sep 10, 2016
- Notes

Allison Osberg / Courtesy of Tides Institute and ...

Little Town, Big Art

“The arts” might seem a frill or nicety. In Eastport, Maine, they’ve been at the center of economic and civic plans and have helped the little city “punch above its weight.”
- Deborah Fallows
- Sep 9, 2016
Courtesy of Erie County Public Library

A Waterfront Library

In Erie, Pennsylvania, a public institution is building on its nautical past to open a world of opportunity for local residents.
- Deborah Fallows
- Sep 5, 2016
James Fallows

The World Comes to a Tiny Town: Eastport's Lesson in Globalization

Even the most remote-seeming corners of America can find themselves in the middle of quick-moving global trends.
- James Fallows
- Sep 4, 2016
Eastport Update: Electric Power From the Sea

Early in 2014, I wrote a magazine article about the 1,300 residents of Eastport, Maine, with the title “…
- James Fallows
- Sep 2, 2016
- Notes

Notes From the Rest of the Country: 'Now That I've Got a Look at This Place, It's Not So Bad!'

My wife Deb and I are on the road again this week, but as a reminder of the ongoing theme…
- James Fallows
- Aug 29, 2016
- Notes
Taylor Aikins

'America Is a Dream Country'

What does it mean to spend years as a Syrian refugee and then land in a brand new life in Erie, Pennsylvania?
- Deborah Fallows
- Aug 26, 2016
Nick Warren / Erie Reader

Erie and America

The challenges of Rust Belt America are real, and well-known. What’s less familiar is the response some mid-sized cities are making.
- James Fallows
- Aug 25, 2016
David Gray / Reuters

The Education of Ryan Lochte

What he could learn from America’s public pools
- Deborah Fallows
- Aug 23, 2016

Deborah Fallows

A Carnegie Legacy in Dodge City

Synergy of arts and civic life in a Kansas town
- Deborah Fallows
- Aug 15, 2016
James Fallows / The Atlantic

Dodge City Postcard

Notes from the ground, from the sky, and from the people of Dodge City, Kansas
- Deborah Fallows
- Aug 8, 2016