City Makers: American Futures
The people, organizations, and ideas reshaping the country. A journey piloted by James Fallows with Deborah Fallows.
Local Institutions
-
![]()
James Fallows Talking About Civic Engagement in America's Original Engaged Communities
The Chautauqua Institution is one of America’s great centers for civil, cultural, and intellectual engagement. A talk about 21st-century American renewal, at a place whose history traces to a great 19th-century reform movement.
-
![]()
Wikimedia Commons A Library Writes Its Own Story
A California library becomes a living legend.
-
![]()
James Fallows / The Atlantic An Innovative Library in Oregon, and Other Reports From the Road
Kicking off reports from the inland Northwest, plus a happy birthday to James Baldwin
-
-
![]()
Photos Deborah Fallows A Library of Good Ideas
Formula for success in Central Oregon: know the users, spot the opportunities, act with vigor.
-
![]()
Wikimedia The New New York Public Library
Preserving tradition while expanding offerings for a bigger, broader audience.
-
![]()
John Tierney How Makerspaces Help Local Economies
New technologies like 3-D printers and laser cutters have boosted entrepreneurial activity in American communities.
-
![]()
John Tierney Boulder, Colorado: A Special Kind of Community
An exaggerated version of a college town, it's the perfect setting for an unusually participatory conference.
-
![]()
Photos James and Deborah Fallows Ajo, Arizona: Oasis in the Desert
How a city with century-old "good bones" tries to reinvent itself.
-
![]()
DowntownFresno.Org Downtown Fresno Kicks Off Its Campaign
Why "unapologetic" may be the most important word in a city's recovery plan
-
![]()
Conference on World Affairs How People in Boulder Build Community out of a Conference
An annual meeting brings speakers from around the world together with students and local residents, in intimate settings.
-
![]()
Riverlife How Green Riverfronts Transformed Pittsburgh
The City of Bridges revives the rivers that helped make it an economic powerhouse.
-
![]()
Deborah Fallows A Field Trip to America's Public Libraries
How they serve the needs of their communities
-
![]()
Woody Fridae California Dreamin': How Collaboration Builds Small-Town Communities
In Winters, California, a library, a swimming pool, and a school make a big difference in the quality of life.
-
![]()
Deborah Fallows What a Library Levy Means to a West Virginia Town
Charleston votes to save a community pillar.
-
![]()
Renee Rosensteel Pittsburgh's City of Asylum
In the City of Bridges, an eclectic community embraces writers in exile.
-
![]()
Jessica Phelps How to Attract Artists to a Down-and-Out Neighborhood
Columbus, Ohio, has figured out how to draw creative types to an area it is hoping to revitalize.
-
![]()
All photos by John Tierney How Are the Boy Scouts Doing in American Cities?
A visit to the headquarters of the Minsi Trails Council in Allentown, Pennsylvania, reveals the lasting influence of the organization—and some of the challenges of modern parenting.
-
![]()
Deborah Fallows Re-Knitting the Frayed Social Fabric: What Libraries Can Do
As Ohio goes, so goes the nation—or at least we can hope so in this case.
-
![]()
NBBJ/Matthew Carbone Not Your Mother's Library
How Columbus, Ohio, is building community spaces for the 21st century
-
![]()
John Tierney The City That Turned Its Water Into Cash
"We've got unfunded obligations in the hundreds of millions. What can we leverage?"
