Essays

Essays on the deeper patterns shaping cities, culture, and civic life. Written for those who know there’s more at stake than policy and planning alone.

Categories

All

 Stewardship category icon

Stewardship

Place

Story

Ritual

All Essays

Two people jog across the Red Bridge on the Boise River Greenbelt near Warm Springs Golf Course.

When Standing Straight Feels Strange

Pete Egoscue, who developed a system of postural therapy for people with...

Pedestrians cross a tree-lined neighborhood street with historic brick storefronts, wide sidewalks, and shade trees in Boise.

When Neighbor Became a Question

For years, viewers came to know the opening of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood...

Wide view of a sidewalk ending abruptly in grass near Julia Davis Park in Boise, with trees, a curved road, and the park beyond.

The Sidewalk That Stopped Thinking

On the northern edge of Julia Davis Park, near the Discovery Center,...

Abraham Lincoln statue on the Capitol Mall in downtown Boise, surrounded by trees and foothills.

From Place to Parcel: How Ownership Geometry Fractured Civic Life

The Surveyor’s Line On the Capitol Mall in Boise, a bronze statue...

A wide view of downtown Boise from above, with early autumn foliage in the foreground and the Boise Foothills stretching across the horizon.

The Heavy Lift: Why We Cannot Build Our Own Cathedrals

The Impossible Private Project We stopped building cathedrals and told everyone to...

Sunlit photograph of a weathered stone archway in downtown Boise, framed by leafy tree branches and long shadows, with a bright starburst of light filtering through the canopy and nearby buildings and sidewalk visible in the background.

The First Signal

If you want to understand when a city begins to lose confidence...

Subscribe
Subscribe