Mark Hinshaw

The Post Office is not only a great institution of democracy, it is a great leveler, a place where human interaction is polite and measured.

The city government could buy up leases for empty storefronts and then market them at low rates to non-profits and small retail shops.

I did not think it possible to go to Rome and not once hear English spoken. Yet, on a recent trip over several days, we heard nothing but Italian. It...

In my career as an architect, urban planner and urban designer I spent decades talking about the merits of mixing uses together . But now I see this through a new lens.

I have been taken by how everyone in the village seems to still be enjoying the public spaces. They are just doing this while being mindful of the safety of others. This attitude of collective responsibility is what we most noticed when we first arrived.

What is really happening is that we have been given a rare chance to experience – live, in person – a change that used to happen once in every generation or two – a massive shift in living patterns, in technology, in social life. When there is a sudden and unexpected shift in human life -- whether personal or cultural – some people choose to reflect; others choose to re-invent themselves or the institutions around them.

One can sense a collective sigh of relief that we may have beaten this awful thing.

I can still see the beloved village pharmacist in his long white coat and with his flamboyant mustache, smiling broadly, and waving to passersby. But Patrizio was a victim of coronavirus.

The effects of Covid-19 creeps closer even as the rate of new cases is declining.

We still say "Buongiorno!" albeit through layers of fabric.