A review by audaciaray
This Is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live by Melody Warnick

3.0

This past fall I left NYC after 17 years and I'm trying to make a place for myself in the Hudson Valley/Catskills (and sometimes not sure its the right place - but also knowing that rightness doesn't really exist and the home I left no longer exists). Making a new home is really, really hard. And though I don't feel like I gained any new huge insights from it, I'm glad I read this book. The thesis is basically that placemaking is about committing to where you are and digging in, shopping and eating local, getting involved in community and politics, walking and biking. There's also some white nonsense like making nice with police (NEVER) and it doesn't address gentrification, race, and the ways that placemaking is often a colonialist act, which are things I think about a lot. Its definitely a book by and for white people with class and geographic mobility.