How To! How To Learn to Love Your City
Nov 25, 2025
Melody Warnick, an author and journalist passionate about community and place attachment, shares her journey from feeling alienated in Blacksburg, VA, to falling in love with it. She discusses her innovative 'Love Where You Live' project, which encourages people to engage in their communities through activities like exploring, volunteering, and enjoying local events. Melody emphasizes how connections to neighbors can enhance resilience during tough times and highlights the importance of embracing what makes a place unique.
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Move That Didn't Fix Everything
- Melody Warnick moved from Austin to Blacksburg expecting a fresh start and immediate belonging.
- She instead encountered nonstop rain, culture shock, and disappointment that spurred her experiment to connect.
Run Small Place-Attachment Experiments
- Do small, research-based experiments to build place attachment rather than waiting for feelings to change.
- Design simple actions around walking, volunteering, or exploring to intentionally increase belonging.
Volunteer To Become Known
- Volunteer locally to build familiarity and social ties; contributing to community assets creates recognition.
- Melody's popcorn-and-greeting experience at The Lyric theater shows volunteering yields cumulative belonging.
