The Art & Science of Loving the Place You Live

There’s a tendency in people to think that if they only lived in a super cool place, their lives would be infinitely better. While it’s true that geography can influence our well-being, we often vastly overestimate how much moving will actually improve our lives. If you’re miserable in one city, you’re probably going to be miserable somewhere else. There’s truth to the adage “Wherever you go, there you are.”

And let’s face it. We often don’t have complete control over where we live due to jobs, family obligations, and other factors. 

So how can you learn to love the place you live, even if you don’t feel it’s the place of your dreams, or the most ideal location?

My guest today spent a year researching the burgeoning science of what’s called “place attachment” in order to answer that question. Her name is Melody Warnick and she’s the author of This Is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live. On the show Melody and I discuss what “place attachment” is and what you can do to have more of it for the place you live. This is a great podcast filled with some extremely actionable advice. 

Show Highlights

• How the “geographic cure” sets up false hopes about improving your life
• How your geography can influence your well-being
• How Millennials are deciding where they live
• The difference between “movers” and “stayers”
• What “place attachment” is
• How moving a lot can be bad for children and adults
• The benefits of establishing roots in a place
• Can you develop place attachment in “non-cool” cities?
• How long does it take to get “place attached” to a city?
• How walking more develops place attachment
• How to walk more if your city is un-walkable
• How to easily increase the amount you spend at locally owned businesses
• What “neighborliness” means in the 21st century
• What neighborliness can do for an individual and a community
• How to find fun things to do in your city if your city isn’t much fun
• How getting out in nature turbo-charges place attachment
• Why you’re an “ocean person” or “mountain person”
• How to get out in nature if there’s not a lot of nature nearby
• The results of Melody’s “Love Where You Live” experiment
• The one thing you can do today to start loving where you live right away

Resources/Studies/People Mentioned in Podcast

• Soul of the Community Study
• Solvitur Ambulando
• Windshield Perspective
• Walk Your City
• The local multiplier effect
• 3/50 Project
• My podcast with Marc Dunkelman on The Vanishing Neighbor
• University of Michigan study on the benefit of neighbors
• Neighborhood Social Cohesion
• Place Making
• The Hammock Initiative in Fargo, ND
• Vitamin G
• Microadventures

Fostering a deeper love for my community has been a goal of mine these past few years. This Is Where You Belong has provided me with lots of actionable steps on how I can do that. If you’re looking to feel more attached to the place you are, pick up a copy of the book. Also visit Melody’s website for more information about the book.