The Streets That Bind

Thoughts on building community in the places we call home

Beginnings are hard.

Welcome to The Streets That Bind, a weekly e-newsletter by yours truly about the places we call home.

Every word I write right now feels, well… not quite right, potentially alienating, and really boring. As the heading states, beginnings ARE hard! Even for a middle-aged English professor who spends his life attending to, in one form or another, the craft of writing. I was trained as a medievalist (think Chaucer) and still teach early literature, along with courses in linguistics, media studies and communication. I think in the categories of these disciplines, and thus they are likely to inform my weekly posts.

1. Why this, why now

But I’m also an avid cyclist who lives in Clinton, SC and spends a lot of time thinking about roads, streets, paths, and sidewalks. The bicycle leads me to ponder movement and how we could do so in a healthier and fairer manner. Movement of course raises the question of where we’re moving from or to, so I also think about the places where we live, how we design housing and commerce. And then there’s the people we meet along the way between work and school and the coffee shop and the grocery store. Our community provides the shared common experience that binds us together.

Movement, living, community. We’ve revolutionized all three of them in the past few decades, yet in spite of those advances, we face tremendous challenges in these realms as well. That’s what keeps me awake at night, composing phantom blog posts.

2. What am I building here?

I hope this Substack can become something bigger than me—that readers like you will feel comfortable leaving comments that engage me and others in the conversation. I’m consumed with the desire to talk on this topic, but I’m a listener as well, who wants Streets that Bind to be a forum for differing perspectives. Respectful, but different. In addition to an active “Comment” section, I hope to incorporate guest posts; if you would be interested, let me know!

3. Where the Rubber Meets the Road…

You can expect my posts to treat topics such as health and wellness, economic development, transit, safety, equity and inclusion, affordable housing, and perhaps more obviously… transportation infrastructure and urban planning. Posts will come at least once per week, typically on Fridays, 1,000 words or so.

I know the site is primitive, the prose so far is stale, my voice a tad timid. But I’m grateful that you’re still with me at the close of this introduction. Bare with me for a few more posts before you decide to unsubscribe. And if by some miracle in the third or fourth missive I’ve made you chuckle or pause to reflect, consider hitting the share button and inviting a few other like minds to subscribe. I’ll see you in a week! And until then, remember that Blessed be the streets that bind.

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