This morning I’m sitting in Emack and Bolios on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, working on the introduction to my dissertation. I’ve been working on a section where I describe my experience of dislocation after moving from Chicago to Boston, and how my sense of place there was deepened by working with refugees. I’m quite certain that I’ve ended up in JP because it has always reminded me of my old neighborhood in Rogers Park, and now that I’ve moved here after years wandering in an Allston wilderness for too many years, I feel like this is not just a new beginning but also a kind of homecoming, a return to a sense of urban place that I’ve missed for a long time.
It’s good to be back.
Comments
2 responses to “Home in Jamaica Plain, or Coming (Nearly) Full Circle”
Tim–Beautiful work. I think Robert Putnam's book Bowling Alone might be relevant to your blog. One of the problems with communities, these days, Putnam says, is that they're designed to prevent people from dealing with their neighbors.Also, North Dakota gets high praise. That's a rare thing, especially coming from a big cheese Harvard professor, so you might want to check it out.
Thanks, Kev. I'll check that out, especially the part about ND.