Several years ago, I was at a museum after-hours reception in Baltimore, Maryland. I was talking to an exhibit designer from Denver. He had recently moved to Denver after spending the majority of his life in Boston. I informed him that I grew up in Chicago before relocating to central Illinois. He shot me an incredulous look before declaring, “I don’t understand how anybody can live in a place where there is no ocean nor mountains.” At that point, I decided to leave my acquaintance to search for those excellent stuffed mushrooms the museum was serving.

I occasionally think about this exchange when I am working on Community Experience Plans. A Community Experience Plan reveals the unique stories that make a community special to its residents. It identifies a community’s values, character, and culture. Then it determines methods to “exhibit” these values and character to its residents and its visitors.

And on a certain level, it answers why I would dare live in a place so far from the mountains and distant from the sea.