From The Atlantic
Jessica Leigh Hester
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Jessica Leigh Hester is a senior associate editor at CityLab. She writes about culture, sustainability, and green spaces, and lives in Brooklyn.
The Past and Future of Urban Grocery Shopping
In his new book, Michael Ruhlman charts the overlap of food, commerce, and identity.
Retracing Black Gotham
A walking tour and graphic novel series memorialize Manhattan’s earliest African residents.
The Art of Noise
A new exhibition highlights the curious potential of sounds that are tempting to ignore.
Does It Matter What We Do?
A new podcast and documentary take stock of individual choices against the backdrop of immense, looming threats.
The World's Most Charming, Useless Bodega
In an uneasy critique of independent stores’ vanishing footprint, this art installation sells toilet paper, tins of fish, and tubs of ice cream, all made out of felt.
What Family Photos Reveal About National Identity
The Royal Ontario Museum is staging an exhibition devoted to snapshots—and what it means to be Canadian.
Rural America Is Hungry
Food insecurity is most prevalent in rural, southern counties—which often lack robust networks to meet the need.
Driving Through New York State's Human-Rights History
The state’s latest tourism campaign makes a point to focus on sites at the center of the LGBT movement and the push for abolition and women’s suffrage.
A Brief History of Music Festival Fails
To avoid the next Fyre Festival-style debacle, organizers should heed these five lessons.
Here's What Manhattan Sounded Like in 1609
A new virtual reality project reconstructs the city’s historic soundscape.
How to Disappear
Is it possible to move through a smart city undetected?
The Rituals of Coney Island's Opening Day
For locals, the urban amusement park season starts months before summer’s peak.
These Sleek Soup Kitchens Fight Hunger and Loneliness
Chef Massimo Bottura’s Refettorios will soon land in U.S. cities to fight food waste and isolation, thanks to a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Citizen Science in the Age of the Cloud
A new documentary series celebrates regular folks interacting with data, but leaves some big questions answered.
When Your City Is Gone
A new book invites Seattle residents to conjure the haunts that have vanished.
Refugees Around the Table
A new campaign is hosting dinner parties around the world to build communities and strengthen networks.
An Artist Swapped 'If You See Something, Say Something' Subway Posters With Pleas for Civic Engagement
“It’s a call to be vigilant everywhere.”
Sense and the City
How did 18th-century urban dwellers make sense of their loud and stinky worlds? Historian Carolyn Purnell explains.
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