My Kind of Town

The rusted three-story hubcap- and bicycle-based Cathedral of Junk was created by Vince Hannemann, a South Austin guy who decided his backyard was as good a place as any to build a cathedral.

Keeping it Weird in Austin, Texas

Aren't the residents of the proudly hip city of Austin, Texas, just traditionalists at heart?

In Nebraska, storms are a violence from which no amount of caution or privilege can protect you. Their warnings crawl across television screens in every season.

Lincoln, Nebraska: Home on the Prairie

The college city's big sky and endless farmland gave this New Yorker some fresh perspective

Randy Fertel takes friends on an insider tour that highlights New Orleans' "funky" soulfulness.

New Orleans Beyond Bourbon Street

From out-of-the-way jazz joints to po' boy shacks, a native son shares his favorite haunts in the Big Easy

Many of the West's outdoor towns lie farther south, and closer to larger population centers. Missoula, Montana still has space around it.

Missoula: A Perfect Mix of Town and Country

Author Rick Bass trades wilderness for city life, Montana style

"I couldn't resist a call to return" to Cleveland, says Charles Michener. The revitalized East 4th Street is home to high-end bars and restaurants.

Cleveland’s Signs of Renewal

Returning to his native Ohio, author Charles Michener marvels at the city’s ability to reinvent itself

"Right out the window is a kind of nature preserve all in itself," says T.C. Boyle in his Santa Barbara home.

The Wildlife of T.C. Boyle's Santa Barbara

The author finds inspiration at the doorstep of his Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house near the central California town

The "cemeteries were park and playground," recalls Ernest B. Furgurson, in the National Cemetery.

Danville, Virginia: Hallowed Ground

The town's Civil War cemeteries deepened Ernest Furguson's view of history as a young boy

Portland has a "goofy, energetic optimism," says novelist Katherine Dunn, sitting on the city's Hawthorne Bridge.

Twice Charmed by Portland, Oregon

The Pacific Northwest city captivated the author first when she was an adventure-seeking adolescent and again as an adult

"You have to be grateful in Vegas. It's the great lesson of the city, the thing I'm taking as a souvenir," says J.R. Moehringer.

Las Vegas: An American Paradox

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist J.R. Moehringer rolls the dice on life in Sin City

Hanamikoji street, Geisha district, Gion, Kyoto

In Kyoto, Feeling Forever Foreign

Travel writer Pico Iyer remains both fascinated and puzzled by the ancient Japanese city

"Not gussied up or cute, Lafayette is a sturdy town, persistent in its character," says Patricia Henley.

Sticking Around Lafayette, Indiana

She didn't plan on staying, but more than 20 years later novelist Patricia Henley embraces her adopted community

A tractor with the West Virginia flag attached to the back makes it way down Main Street in Buckhannon, West Virginia.

Buckhannon, West Virginia: The Perfect Birthplace

A community in the Allegheny foothills nurtured novelist Jayne Anne Phillips' talent for storytelling

"My memories of Worthington are ... colored by what went on with my father," says Tim O'Brien.

From Brooklyn to Worthington, Minnesota

Novelist Tim O'Brien revisits his past to come to terms with his rural hometown

Telluride, Colorado is Aspen's younger, less glamorous, not so naughty sister.

Telluride Thinks Out of the Box

The fiction writer cherishes her mountain town's anti-commercialism, as epitomized by the local swap stop, a regional landmark

The turquoise water and mangrove islands seen from the dock sold the author on her Sugarloaf Key home.

Sugarloaf Key, Florida: Keeping Good Company

Observing ibises and kayaking among sharks, author Barbara Ehrenreich savors life "up the Keys"

"It would be a lie to say I feel at home here," says Bragg (the Fairhope French Quarter known for its shops and galleries). "It is too quaint, too precious for that."

Fairhope, Alabama's Southern Comfort

Memorist Rick Bragg finds forgiving soil along the brown sand stretch of Mobile Bay

Boise, says the author, is a study in paradoxes, a place "both rural and metropolitan, civilized and feral."

Boise, Idaho: Big Skies and Colorful Characters

Idaho's natural beauty is what makes novelist Anthony Doerr feel so much at home in Boise

Moviemakers love the old houses with side porches (Aiken-Rhett House, c. 1820) and palmetto-lined streets, says Josephine Humphreys.

My Kind of Town: Charleston, South Carolina

Novelist Josephine Humphreys says the city is more than just her hometown, it's her life

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Athens, Tenn.

Education, the arts, patriotism, family and respect for all

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Ashland, Mass.

Halfway between Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts

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