Transportation

Sonja Zalubowski writes: The scenes stirred something in my bones, my blood, my very genes. This sense of witnessing how the world must have been once at the very beginning. The Serengeti is not far from the Olduvai Gorge where Mary Leakey in 1978 discovered the footprints of our earliest known ancestors, the hominids known as Australopithecenes from more than three million years ago. No cattle drivers or farmers here. The animals were doing quite well at maintaining nature's balance all on their own. I felt humbled, reverent and in awe. But, I also recognized how raw and dangerous and right there in front of us all this was. more »

Santa Fe, New Mexico, a remote town of about 70,000 that became the darling of urban expats in the early parts of the last century, thanks to its beautiful mountain vistas and pueblo-style architecture. Artists and nuclear scientists alike came and decided they never wanted to leave. Today, Santa Fe is a foodie haven, home to a world-class opera, a booming arts scene and quirky shops. Other exurban outposts looking to establish themselves could learn from this "Santa Fe effect," Garreau said. "You've got to give them a reason to stay."  more »

Rose Madeline Mula writes: Hamlet had it easy. All he had to figure out was whether "to be or not to be?" — a one-time dilemma, at least if he chose "not to be." My soul-searching question, which I am compelled to ask of every item in my closets and drawers, is "to pack or not to pack?" You'd think that it would get easier every time I travel. Wrong. If anything, it seems to get harder.     more »

Julia Sneden writes: Surely, I thought, people have observed and learned a lesson from the large urban areas in the northeast and far west — but no, our small cities have replicated the poor planning and nutty zoning that have allowed the destruction of roadside beauty all over the country. We're right up there with the big guys. The roads that lead into our towns and cities are lined with fast-food joints and factories and car dealerships and shopping centers, so that reaching the center of town seems to take forever. more »