cities

I love cities. I was born and raised in a place that always seemed to strive to be a real city, Indianapolis. Back then it was often called “India-no-place” and I wrote an essay in college where I referred to it “a bunch of lights in a cornfield.” I headed out of there as soon as I graduated, and moved to Chicago. What a shot in the arm that was! Subways and skyscrapers, ethnic restaurants and diverse neighborhoods — I couldn’t get enough of the place, and when someone asks me where I grew up, I have to stop and think. It really was Chicago.

In the late 70s I moved to San Francisco and lived there 14 years. A more dazzling and seductive city is hard to find, and I loved my years there — except for the weather. And the expense.

We came back to Indianapolis in 1992, and I was delighted to find that it had matured while I had been away. A vibrant downtown, great museums and places to hear music, a whole new crop of restaurants and restored neighborhoods make it a very liveable, manageable city.

My work travels took me to nearly every major city in the U.S. Of those my favorites are probably New York, Boston, and Austin. We lived in Philadelphia for a couple of years earlier in this decade. I fell head-over-heels in love with Philly and hated it when we moved away.

Now we live in Charleston, South Carolina. A small, but important city. It has had way more influence in its 350+ years than its size would suggest. Its layers of history, set in the sub-tropical garden called the Lowcountry, and the dark secrets of its past make Charleston an extraordinary place to live.