“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tsu

I’m a place guy. Place is what happens when people inhabit space and make it their own, claim it with their feelings, their memories, their experiences. It’s the sum of these and more, embedded and expressed in the built, the natural and everything in between. Place is where change takes shape, where the feedback loops are tightest, where what happens anywhere in the world comes home to roost—on the front doorstep, on Main Street, on the local ridgeline. The proverbial backyard.

With this inaugural issue of Scenarios, the Foundation’s semi-annual e-journal, we celebrate place, local place, as the launching point for creating the change we seek in the world. We believe positive change begins at home, within individuals and communities, and builds from there, sometimes in leaps but more often slowly, cumulatively, with great intention and perseverance. We help communities steer the course of change where they live so that the beloved qualities of their place can be preserved and those they wish for but don’t have can be developed. 

With each issue of Scenarios, we’ll highlight a particular planning theme or idea, one we think is worth paying attention to, and we’ll try to unpack it through guest essays, interviews and illustrative activities involving the Foundation and our partners. We invite your feedback about subject matter. 

We hope you enjoy the inaugural issue.

Bill Shutkin
President & CEO