Cities Decoded

When I worked as a journalist, one of the greatest treasures of successful reporting was a thing called "specific detail." These are the kinds of observations that make a piece really pop and stand out, that make a story memorable, that give it resonance. It’s the difference between: “I met Mr. Jones for breakfast at a local café. He sat down and ordered his usual breakfast.” And: “I met Mr. Jones while waiting in a red, nylon-lined chair at Lucy’s Diner. Decked in his standard uniform of...

Early one Thursday evening this summer, I dropped the boys off to see their dad, parked the car at Aldi and stepped out into the blazing sun. For the past few years, I've watched the Internet fill up with ordinary people walking around their towns, posting videos about the design of their cities. "I could never do that," I told myself. I could never film videos about Waco because I'm not inspired here, I'd say. It's not walkable here. It's not pretty. There are too many cars everywhere and...