Building Cities Where Miracles Happen
Often, things are only impossible because we make them that way. Which means we can unmake them, too.
Something special is happening in Nashville.
I’ve lived in the area either part- or full-time for about eight years - a story that’s common in these parts. And in that time, I’ve met countless couples who have saved their marriages, parents who’ve seen children healed of terminal diagnoses, and individuals who’ve broken the chains of a lifetime of crippling anxiety or depression.
It’s a major part of why my wife and I moved to the area permanently after graduating from the University of Missouri in 2019. Coming out of a difficult season in our own lives, we couldn’t think of a better place to heal our own mental and emotional wounds than somewhere that seemed to be overflowing with stories of healing.
It seemed like a places where miracles happen.
I’m not suggesting that the Middle Tennessee region has some “special blessing” in an Old-Testament-Israel type of way. And truthfully, I’m actually not sure why these stories are uniquely common here.
But since arriving three-plus years ago, I’ve resolved to figure out how to export this beautiful part of Nashville’s energy to other places around the country.
Cities where the sick become healthy;
Cities where the lonely can find community;
Cities where the poor find assistance;
Cities where the broken are mended.
I certainly recognize that the narrative I’ve described doesn’t capture the full, more complicated story of Nashville. But it’s the part I want to focus on today. Because I want to think out loud for a minute: How do we build cities where miracles happen?
At first glance, the question contradicts itself. After all, in the most literal sense we do not generate miracles. To the degree we participate in them, it’s only by undeserved grace from the divine.
But in a less technical sense, I believe we can create places where that which seems only possible by miracle to most can become commonplace cornerstones of culture.
So how do we do it?
We start with design.
Let’s not overpromise on the power of urbanist principles: design alone is not a miracle-maker. But in my experience, there’s a formula that often leads to the breakthroughs I described up above.
Community + Resources (human, financial, spiritual, etc.) inspires Resilient Hope which creates space for the Seemingly Impossible.
And when we design better places, we create cities where community is natural, resources are more available, and hope is therefore more attainable. That brings things that currently seem improbable or even impossible far more into the realm of possibility, whether that’s mending relationships, healing from illness, escaping poverty, or overcoming some sort of deep personal brokenness.
The irony, of course, is that Greater Nashville doesn’t boast a collection of masterfully-planned towns and neighborhoods. And yet this still seems to happen like clockwork, likely due to the massive amounts of wealth (resources) in the area that free up time for community.
But I think that should actually be a source of hope in and of itself - if this can happen in Nashville (rather than one of America’s more famously-well planned cities or regions), it can happen anywhere. Resources might be required as a catalyst, but it doesn’t take deep coffers to start small and start building miracle momentum.
It’s amazing how contagious the energy can become when that momentum starts to build: walk around Middle Tennessee and ask people why they moved to the area, and you’re bound to hear countless versions of the phrase “there’s just something happening that we wanted to be a part of.” It goes viral.
In a global cultural moment that seems to suggest a dark hour is looming, we can either receive our fate or begin building engines of light that start to drive out the darkness.
Cities are those engines, and if you’ve read this far, it’s clear you’re one of the builders. So get building.