Many Reasons to Get Out and Start Tonight
January has a habit of closing in.
The days are shorter. The cold makes staying home feel logical. Screens quietly take over nights that once held plans. Before long, “we should get out more” becomes something we say instead of something we do.
You do not need a big plan. Just one night. Then maybe another.
Below are a few good places to start.
From Renters to Owners: Restoring the Pathways That Make a Town Ours
A diagnostic look at why interdependence faded and why community ownership is quietly returning.
A Capable Town with a Hidden Gap
State College is a well-run, affluent, and highly capable college town. Emergencies are handled swiftly. Services are accessible. Institutions respond when needed. By conventional standards, the system performs well.
And yet, many residents quietly feel like renters in their own hometown rather than owners.
That feeling is not imagined. It is structural.
A Few Good Nights Are Waiting
Some weeks quietly offer a lot. Not the kind of busy that asks for effort, but the kind where a few doors are open and you can wander in, stay awhile, and leave feeling warmer than when you arrived.
Nothing here demands commitment. It’s all simply available, good music, good conversation, good room energy, if you feel like stepping out.
Happy New Year, Blue-White Zone
If the last year left you feeling strangely “hungry” even with a full calendar and a full cart, you are not alone. Many neighbors are discovering that more content, more convenience, and more commitments have not added up to more meaning. Thin vs. thick desires Writer Joan Westenberg calls it the difference between thin and […]
A Happy Ending in Happy Valley
My wife Janyce and I arrived in State College in the spring of 1995, when I was hired as the General Manager at CATA. We moved here from Washington State, where I had been the manager of the local transit system for eight years, but had been asked to resign following a change in board leadership. In any event, moving back to Pennsylvania (we had met when we were students at Bucknell years earlier) was not something we really wanted to do, because professionally it was a step backwards, and we both had very much liked the ambiance of the Pacific Northwest.
We’re Not Building a Media Platform. We’re Building a Tailgate (All Year Long)
by Greg Woodman Let’s talk about tailgates. Not just football. The human kind. Because after a year of building, listening, and dreaming with people across this region, I’ve started to believe tailgates might be the whole thing. People think tailgates are about football. But they’re not. Tailgates are about belonging.They’re about the shared rhythm of […]
Local and Super Last Minute Gift Scramble Guide
By Melissa Hicks The Makery Market (State College – local makers / gifts) Under $20 $20–$40 $40–$75+ How to shop this guide fast Master Goblin Games (State College – games / hobby) Under $20 $20–$40 $40–$75+ How to shop this guide fast Stax of Trax (State College – music / vinyl) Under $20 $20–$40 $40–$75+ […]
Happy Valley = Tailgate: A Year-Round Invitation to Gather
As we close out 2025 and enter the stillness of the season, we offer this wish:
May this time of year slow us down just enough to remember what truly matters.
The laughter of family. The presence of friends. The quiet joy of gathering. Not because we have to, but because we get to.
Sydney Sweeney, Nittany Mall, and the Question We’re Avoiding
The American Eagle store at Nittany Mall is closing.
That news lands at the same moment the brand is riding one of the biggest awareness waves of the year. A national campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney. Massive reach. Cultural relevance. Constant attention.
Here’s the part that should give us pause. In just a few months, a casino is opening in that very same mall. You could hardly ask for a stronger magnet for foot traffic.
If awareness and proximity were enough, this store should have been positioned to benefit.
Instead, it’s shutting down.
