If you can order a coffee from a window while standing on a sidewalk, you just might be in a great urban place. On a recent trip to Santiago, Chile, I walked out of our AirBnB and just up the sidewalk was a coffee shop with a window facing the sidewalk. The street happened to be Calle Jose Victorino Lastarria in the historic Barrio Lastarria district, but it could have been anywhere. Requirements include a street with slow vehicle traffic, a decent sidewalk, buildings with little or no setback, and a decent amount of pedestrian traffic. Travel the world, and…

On a couple occasions this summer I was able to go fishing on a Thursday. That’s the day we receive delivery from our CSA from Turnip Rock. I arrive home with a couple fish on the stringer, eager to know what vegetables we got from the farm. For dinner the entire meal is either direct from “our” farm or caught by me, including a growler of beer from the Northbound! It’s pretty cool to come home with a fresh catch for dinner, but even more gratifying to know my kids understand where some of their food comes from. I do…