Change is particularly visible and motivating if it happens around important public spaces where the community congregates, such as the public library or schools. Indeed, in their book, Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America, James Fallows and Deborah Fallows declare that in the library, they ‘could discover the spirit of a town, get a feel for the people’s needs and wants, and gauge their energy and mettle’.13 And later, ‘. . . we would ask what was the most distinctive school to visit at the K–12 level. The question served a similar function to asking who in town made
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Community revival & public spaces
