Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into The Heart of America

By James and Deborah Fallows

This husband and wife wrote Our Towns after traveling the U.S. for five years, visiting places that don’t get much attention. They speak with political leaders but also entrepreneurs, artists, teachers, civic organizers and more. Our Towns (Knopf Doubleday, 2018) creates a sense of hope, pointing toward renewal, amid the pandemic and political dysfunction. The authors focus on each town’s problems and the change makers involved. Among much else, they look at downtown rebuilding in Greenville, South Carolina; unexpected entrepreneurial hotbeds such as Holland, Michigan; and publicprivate partnerships like Columbus, Ohio, businesses supporting a 2009 income tax hike to help the city balance its budget. Anyone who cares about community and country will find Our Towns as full of hope as I did.