City Makers: American Futures
The people, organizations, and ideas reshaping the country. A journey piloted by James Fallows with Deborah Fallows.
Redlands, CA
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Deb Fallows at the University of Redlands
During our West Coast travels for American Futures reports in the winter of 2014-2015, my wife Deb and…
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Jack Thompson for the Wildlands Conservancy Welcome Our Newest National Monuments!
Often it seems that modern presidents can’t do anything — except wage war. Here’s a heartening exception.
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Wikimedia Commons A Library Writes Its Own Story
A California library becomes a living legend.
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Map with Esri software, by John Tierney The Long Stretch Home
The fourth day of a cross-country flight
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Ice Cream, Chocolate, Coffee, and Beer
Take ingredients and blend, for small-town synergy.
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Why Do Tech Companies End Up Where They Are?
"You get some clusters, and some stand-alone firms far from anyone else. But rarely anything in-between."
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Wikimedia Commons Luck? Planning? Karma? The Elements of a Small Town's High-Tech Success
A software company grows in an unlikely setting. "Why here?" we ask the founders.
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An American Dream: A YMCA With a Circus
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On the Character of a Community: What Local Narratives Emphasize, and Leave Out
The role of universities, and our un-loved public efforts.
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A City's Turning Points
The steps toward success, or failure, and why our understanding of them matters.
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A School With a Sense of Place
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From the Tree to the Table: The Journey of a Brave Little Orange
The surprising complexity behind even the simplest-seeming aspects of modern life.
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A 4th-Generation Orange Farmer, on Why He Sticks With It
"I was born in the grove. I was raised in the grove. I developed an intense dislike of farming in the grove." Yet after 20 years around the world he has come back.
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James Fallows On the Limits, but Also the Power, of Local Narratives
The stories cities tell about themselves, and the difference that makes.
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Inside the Packing House
Viewing an ordinary fruit with new respect.
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Reports From the Road: Hangar 24 and a Student-Run Farm
The variety of America, chapter 12,825
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When Rails Make the Difference, From Down East to the Southwest
The loss of rail service into a small Maine town has been crippling. By John Tierney
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American Futures Heads West
Back on the road and in the air.
