Ryan and I put out a call on Twitter asking what people were looking forward to at the upcoming SACRPH conference in Cleveland, and the response was crickets. I’m concerned that urbanists are insufficiently excited for what will most certainly be a great weekend! So here are the five things I’m most looking forward to…

5. Revisiting a Favorite City

Betraying my adopted home of Pittsburgh, I will confess: I love Cleveland. I can’t really explain why, except to say that I’m easily bewitched by bookstores and believe in omens.

4. Paper Sessions

It appears that I will have to roll a die to determine which panels to attend–there are so many good ones. I do know that I will be sitting in on the presentation of one of my best friends from undergrad, who I didn’t know was attending SACRPH until I found her name in the conference program!

3. The Conference Reception at the Cleveland Public Library on Friday Evening

I’ve never been to a library I didn’t love, and I can’t wait to drink a few glasses of wine and shmooze with my fellow urbanists while surrounded by books. Take note, graduate students–afterwards there will be a reception for the field’s most junior scholars at Hodge’s.

2. “From Surrogate Suburbs to Shaker Heights” Tour

Between recently reading Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere and Nichole Nelson’s fabulous post on the neighborhood, I’ve become obsessed with Shaker Heights. I can’t wait to explore the area and learn more about black suburbanization in Cleveland.

1. Meeting You!

Please come up and introduce yourself to me at SACRPH! Whether you’ve been a Member of the Week or a quietly lurking reader of The Metropole, I want to hear from you. This platform exists to bring together UHA members who might otherwise never meet, converse, share, influence, or inspire one another! As co-editors of the blog, Ryan and I do not only read and comment on writing–we also serve as a node, a point of connection within the larger network of our Association. So if you see me around, I would love to hear more about what you’re working on and what makes you passionate about urban history.

See you in Cleveland!

~Avigail