Joe Erpenbeck

On a recent visit to Cincinnati I went out for a run from a friend’s house where I was staying.  I have some knee issues and now run for 3 minutes and walk for 1 minute. I caught up with a guy who was carrying a plastic grocery bag and picking up t...

I stopped on a bike ride a few days ago and sat on this picnic table to look at the lake. Within a couple of minutes a man walking by with a white bucket, a tackle box and a fishing pole asked if I would share my table. He needed to rest as he had […]

A key “teacher” in my life was David Schwartz who wrote a compelling book, Who Cares?- Rediscovering Community. It speaks of responses that will lead to better more enriched lives for us all and about the remnants of hospitality that can still be f...

I love the spirit, smell, and aisles of a small local hardware store. Recently I visited the nearby store in my new neighbourhood: with its worn wood floors, abundant shelves and helpful staff;this store is a treasure chest in the neighbourhood . As I walked t...

With spring emerging I am again reflecting on baseball and our communities. As Opening Day of the new season comes I was thinking of the movement over the past years to define their old “stadiums” with words such as “ballparks” or “park” such as Gr...

I have often compared asset mapping to baseball card collecting. Baseball cards contain only assets of each player and usually something unique about them. We all have those gifts, interests, skills and passions that make up our baseball cards. Our neighborhoo...

Urban acupuncture is intended to produce small-scale but socially catalytic interventions in the urban fabric. There are videos of large-scale, often funny interventions occurring in cities such as New York. I was part of an early morning High Five greeting as...

Last weekend, I went on a bike ride with some friends through the city visiting 4 local craft beer breweries. The number of people at each and the energy around this craft beer movement struck me. A couple of the breweries had very nice tasting rooms and anoth...

On a recent visit to California I was struck by the stories and passion of the people in Napa. Everyone that I spoke to shared a powerful stories from the earthquake that occured a little over a month ago. The destruction was all around in the certificates on ...

Last weekend, a group of residents from an apartment building, along with a couple businesses and a local church hosted a ‘Summer In The City BBQ.’  The aim was to create an opportunity for people to come together and meet neighbors and strangers....