City Makers: American Futures
The people, organizations, and ideas reshaping the country. A journey piloted by James Fallows with Deborah Fallows.
Ajo, AZ
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The End of the Journey
Arriving in Tucson, we felt the inklings of coming full circle with our American Futures project. Only one more leg…
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A Good Start: Bobby's Story
One of my favorite features of our American Futures project is the occasional serendipity of crossing the path of some…
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Deborah Fallows Finding Health Care in the Desert
With the closest hospital 100 miles away, Ajo, Arizona’s Desert Senita Health Center acts as the region’s clinic.
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Deborah Fallows / The Atlantic Farming in the Desert
A small town in Arizona grows a thriving food scene.
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James Fallows Isabella Greenway, Pioneering American Woman
The first Arizonan congresswoman, a lifelong friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, lived a remarkable life.
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A Word Cloud of Ajo, Arizona
The words we use about ourselves reveal surprising truths.
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Deborah Fallows Growing Up in Ajo
What it takes to get from the desert to college
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Stuart Siegel From Xizhou to Eastport to Ajo: Big Dreams in Small Towns
The same kind of ambition you see in political campaigns, races for sports championships, or attempts to score a big IPO—but toward a different end.
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Photos James and Deborah Fallows Ajo, Arizona: Oasis in the Desert
How a city with century-old "good bones" tries to reinvent itself.
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James Fallows On the Road, in Arizona and Colorado
A small city struggling to come back, a larger one already thriving, and the implications for civic vitality
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Photos James and Deborah Fallows Ajo, Arizona: A Small Town Pushed to the Brink, and Coming Back
What does a town do when most of its people lose their jobs nearly overnight? For the people of this small town, the surprising answer places heavy emphasis on the arts.
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Airman 1st Class Sivan Veazie/ U.S. Air Force A Calculated Risk I Decided Not to Take
"Here we were doing what was a 'strafing run' down the highway and talking to Snake Eye and looking for the craters at the south end of the corridor." Why we made this last leg of the journey by car.
