Ever Better Podcast | Inspiring Stories | Motivating | Transition With Grace | Fulfillment | Wisdom

Melody Warnick, freelance journalist and author of This is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live, wrote the book on falling in love with where you live. Moving is something that Melody has ample firsthand experience with. She's moved from Ames, Iowa to St. George, UT to Silver Spring, MD to Austin, TX to her current (and hopefully more permanent) home, Blacksburg, VA. As she planned her last trek with her husband and two children, she began thinking that she might be addicted to moving. A curious journalist, she began researching, and discovered that 12% of Americans move each year and the average American can expect to move 11.7 times throughout their life. All of this shifting has resulted in 28% of us not knowing our neighbors by name. Melanie's research led to her the concept of "placemaking," the practice of making your community more livable. In our discussion, Melanie shares some of the placemaking projects she's pursued since moving to Blacksburg. Some of these involved