Meaningful places offer a vital counterbalance to the forces of globalization and sameness that are overtaking our world, and are an essential element in the search for solutions to current sustainability challenges. In Native to Nowhere , author Tim Beatley draws on extensive research and travel to communities across North America and Europe to offer a practical examination of the concepts of place and place-building in contemporary life. Tim Beatley reviews the many current challenges to place, considers trends and factors that have undermined place and place commitments, and discusses in detail a number of innovative ideas and compelling visions for strengthening place. Native to Nowhere brings together a wide range of new ideas and insights about sustainability and community, and introduces readers to a host of innovative projects and initiatives. Native to Nowhere is a compelling source of information and ideas for anyone seeking to resist place homogenization and build upon the unique qualities of their local environment and community. Timothy Beatley is the Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities at the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia, where he has taught for over twenty-five years. His primary teaching and research interests are in environmental planning and policy, with a special emphasis on coastal and natural hazards planning, environmental values and ethics, and biodiversity conservation. He has published extensively in these areas, including the following books: Ethical Land Use ; Habitat Conservation Planning: Endangered Species and Urban Growth ; Natural Hazard Mitigation ; and An Introduction to Coastal Zone Management . In recent years much of his research and writing has been focused on the subject of sustainable communities and creative strategies by which cities and towns can reduce their ecological footprints, while at the same time becoming more livable and equitable places. His books that explore these issues include Biophilic Cities , Resilient Cities , and Blue Urbanism (Island Press). Native to Nowhere Sustaining Home and Community in a Global Age By Timothy Beatley ISLAND PRESS Copyright © 2004 Timothy Beatley All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-55963-453-3 Contents ABOUT ISLAND PRESS, Title Page, Copyright Page, Dedication, Preface and Acknowledgments, CHAPTER 1 - Sustaining Place in the Global Age, CHAPTER 2 - Place Basics: Concepts, Research, Literature, CHAPTER 3 - Place Strengthening through History and Heritage, CHAPTER 4 - Tackling Sprawl: Community Design, Sustainability, and Place, CHAPTER 5 - Nature and Place: The Role of Natural Environments in Strengthening Commitments to Place, CHAPTER 6 - Pedestrian Places, CHAPTER 7 - Place Building through Art and Celebration, CHAPTER 8 - Learning by Design: Communities That Teach, CHAPTER 9 - Strengthening Place through Sharing Institutions, CHAPTER 10 - Multigenerational Communities: Places That Sustain and Cherish Children, Families, and the Elderly, CHAPTER 11 - Energy and Sustainable Place Making, CHAPTER 12 - The New Politics of Place, CHAPTER 13 - Renewing Our Place Commitments, References, Index, Island Press Board of Directors, CHAPTER 1 Sustaining Place in the Global Age A couple sitting next to me at a Starbucks in Falls Church, Virginia, was admiring the music being piped in and asked the Starbucks employee behind the counter who the musician was. You might have thought they were asking for an explanation of Fermi's Paradox. The flustered young man behind the counter confessed that he did not know who it was and really had no easy way to find out because the music was mixed and programmed in Seattle and sent to Starbucks stores across the country. Starbucks's need to so firmly control the musical ambiance of their stores is a small thing, to be sure, but a telling window into the many ways in which global companies influence the texture and quality of people's lives. Whether by intention or not, the cumulative cuts at our unique places, the places we call home, the local realm, are real and insidious. Starbucks stores seem to be on every corner of every major city. There are, of course, many advantages and benefits of our global era. We have a wide range of products and goods from around the world. We enjoy fruits, vegetables, and other agricultural products in the dead of winter, and we owe many jobs and much income to global trade and commerce. There is much to be positive about, as proponents of globalization are quick to point out. And, certainly, I like Starbucks coffee. When I'm on trips, even short distances from my home, I'm pleasantly relieved when I discover a Starbucks. I know what to expect. But the proliferation of mind-numbing sameness is an alarming trend. As the march of globalization continues, it manifests across the continent in places that look and feel alike. In shopping malls that carry the same stores, a