*culture is not optional

vol. 3, num. 18 :: 2004.11.05 — 2004.11.18

It?s where we spent our formative years, where we put down roots as young adults, where we claim our identity in connection with place. Reflections on towns and cities as ?home.?

Feature

Our towns

by The *cino Community

*cino community members respond to questions about their hometowns.

Editorial

Having a ball in my hometown

by Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma

A local celebration provides an opportunity to reflect on love of place.

Articles

An e-mail address for the guy who took our photo at the place around the corner where we went for coffee

by Kelly Crull

The merging of two cultures yields a lesson in experiencing community.

Re-inventing the well

by Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma

Even as big boxes multiply, ?neighborhood values? are becoming an important part of the national conversation.

Reviews

Re-visiting an old friend

by Marsena Konkle

A review of Chaim Potok?s The Chosen.

In case you missed it the first time

Home on the road

by Gregory Baus

On the complex search for an earthly home.

Commuting to Africa

by Suzanne Lind

A North American woman finds home on a vast and colorful continent that inspires both incredible joy and difficult questions.

Some say the Midwest is dying

by Kelly Crull

A young couple mourns and celebrates the passing of time as they visit the small town of Hospers, Iowa.

Weaving the web

Compromise, hell!

Orion Magazine

Wendell Berry, the notable advocate of loving our land, explores how corporate greed is eroding hometown values.

Receiving Community: The Church and the Future of the New Urbanist Movement

Sidewalks in the Kingdom

Presbyterian minister Eric O. Jacobsen examines a new movement to reclaim neighborhood values from a Christian perspective. NOTE: Links directly to a PDF download.