Esmeralda

Imagine living on a college campus. You run into friends just walking to class, and everyone is learning and creating side by side together. Group dinners, creative projects, book clubs, and pickup sports happen spontaneously.

Why only live this way for four years? Wouldn’t kids thrive in a place like that? Able to roam with their friends, and immersed in opportunities to learn, build, and explore?

It would be great to be a parent there, too. Instead of being a chauffeur for your kids, you could give them more freedom and just tell them to be back by dark.

Why don’t more places like this exist? That’s the question my husband asked the first time I took him to meet my grandma, who lives in a place called Chautauqua.

Chautauqua is the closest thing to this vision that I’ve found. It’s a town of ~8,000 people founded in 1874 in western New York. You can picture it as a sort of cross between a college campus and family summer camp.

Chautauqua was built before the car, so people walk or bike nearly everywhere. This makes it safe for kids to explore, and it’s easy to live an active lifestyle where you actually know your neighbors.

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