The Tri-Cities are Richland, Pasco and Kennewick—3 cities clustered near one another in the vast plains and deserts of Washington state, to the east of the Cascade Mountains. It’s a region that seems like it would have little to attract newcomers—it’s largely remote, prone to dust storms, not close to any major city. But, over the decades, this area has drawn people from the world over, and, in this episode, we’ll explore how and why.
The best part of this program is the clear exposition of the idea that we exist together, mutually, one way ...
What a remarkable man. Thank you for this show. Crying as I am listening.
In a city where one in four households contain a government employee, the crippling state budget deficit, police layoffs, fire engine brown-outs and park closures could easily signal only the bleakest of futures. But for the oldest city on the West Coast, persistence is key. It’s a place where people are figuring out ways—from clothing swaps to home shares—to deal with the hard new economic reality.
From Rockefeller's Standard Oil to GE's first industrial park, Cleveland was a city made by entrepreneurs. But since the polluted Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969, it's been trying to shake the moniker of "the mistake on the lake". Today Cleveland is being embraced by a new generation of entrepreneurs who are using their business sense to try and revitalize neighborhoods, clean up the environment and improve education.
Wyoming is the least populated state in the US. In this sparsely populated landscape where private property and self sufficiency are prized, community is built on the (somewhat unwelcome) expectation that distant neighbors might need to rely on one another one day. When people come together here, they have to have good reason to. This episode will bring listeners to the towns of Laramie, Cheyenne and the surrounding landscape in Southern Wyoming, looking at how the things that happen in the small towns and countryside of rural America can change the country as a whole.
The Bronx has long been a symbol of America's failings. It's still the poorest urban congressional district in the nation, and for many who live in New York's other boroughs, the Bronx is usually a place to avoid. But despite the area's troubles, some have stayed and put down roots, intent on surviving and making their borough better. This episode looks at the hold-outs and the dreamers who've committed their lives to building community in the Bronx.
After Hurricane Katrina ravaged the area, Mississippi Gulf Coast residents were forced to come together to deal with the aftermath. Just as they were starting to get back on their feet, the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster resulted in millions of barrels of oil being dumped into the water just off their shores. These events have made environmentalists out of a lot of Gulf Coast residents who would never have considered themselves as such. We tell an hour of stories about how the fight for the natural world is bringing Gulf Coast residents together, sometimes with unlikely partners—and how, in some instances, that fight is turning out to be exactly what a community needed to survive.
