We looked for hope, in Hope

Hope has an unmistakable appeal, says Jeannine Jabaay.

That is, her town of Hope, Alaska, which is just about the end of the road of the continental United States. 

"Hope has a weird way of drawing you in," she says. "Nobody ends up in Hope by accident. It has to be intentional."

Technically speaking, "hope" means optimism about what's to come. That is not an easy feeling for Americans, with an ever-divisive presidential election merely weeks away. People on both sides feel worried about what the next phase of America could look like. So what does having hope mean at this moment?

With help from journalists across the Paste BN Network, Paste BN reported from six American towns named Hope to answer this question. (Yes, all of the cities are named Hope!) Most of the Hopes are rural, barely breaking a few thousand residents and far from big cities. But conversations with folks in these towns revealed that despite challenges everywhere, from the economic to the existential, Americans in Hope want their country to be a better place.

🍂 Happy Sunday morning. Nicole Fallert here and welcome to Your Week, our newsletter exclusively for Paste BN subscribers (that's you!). This week, we chat with Paste BN's Trevor Hughes about his work on this exclusive Hope in America series.

But first, here are some of my must-reads from Paste BN this week:

• Here's how Springfield, Ohio, is at the center of a national debate on immigration.
• The yellow school bus is becoming a relic of another era.
• The Fed just cut interest rates. How will your finances be impacted?
• "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" is sexual and scandalous. It's not the whole story.
• Are remote workers really working all day? 

Hope has a place in America

Trevor Hughes was raised in a small town in Vermont. He remembers adults gathering on Town Meeting Day to discuss politics while eating a lunch provided by his school's cafeteria.

"I grew up with an understanding of what goes on with your neighbors," Hughes said. As a young person, these moments inspired Hughes (and likely led to his career as a journalist). But while reporting on the 2024 presidential election for Paste BN, he's noticed abundant frustration among young people in America. That sense of hope he grew up with seems dimmed, he said.

"There's this sense of frustration and anger," Hughes said. "They feel stuck, that politicians aren't listening to their concerns and the whole political system is done to them, not with them ... but they care deeply about the future of America."

This motivated Hughes to ask: Is hope alive in America today?

Hughes teamed up with journalists across the Paste BN Network, from Arkansas to Maine to Michigan, to write a Hope in America series. These reporters traveled the country to speak with a diverse array of store owners, local guides, organizers and young people in America's places of Hope. The goal of the series was to take readers on a journalistic road trip and introduce them to "neighbors," Hughes said.

"The whole purpose was not to talk about politics," Hughes said. Rather, the aim was to paint a "refreshing" portrait of life in corners of America otherwise unknown. Certainly, these conversations revealed divides over issues like access to abortion and guns. But Hughes "didn't talk to a single person" who wasn't concerned about their local community progressing economically and culturally.

"I could hear my neighbors in that," Hughes said of conversations with people in Hope. "I have been down those roads. It was so familiar to me."

Photos: Hope is still alive across America

The series concluded that America is incredibly hopeful.

"There's double digits of hopes," Hughes said referencing the abundance of cities with that name and the sentiment itself.

Amid spikes in political violence and hateful rhetoric, it's valid to think about America as more divided than ever, Hughes said. But he also encourages readers to remember that division doesn't disappear after Election Day. It's up to us to "lower that level" if we want hope to create real change.

His advice to readers is to follow the guidance one person told him in Hope, Alaska: You need your neighbors when snow falls. In other words, when things get tough, having relationships with one another matters, Hughes said.

Another piece of guidance? "Think about your neighbors as actual real people, not just strangers."

Read Paste BN's series about America's Hope

• Hope, Maine, is preserving the past to pave the way for the future.
• Bill Clinton put Hope, Arkansas on the map. Residents are trying to preserve it.
• A tale of two places in Hope, Michigan.
• Here's why Hope, Alaska, is the "most romantic town in the universe."
• Hope, New Mexico, is a small town where unlikely events ruined big ambitions.

Thank you

This project made me feel optimistic that a place called hope exists for all Americans. Thank you for supporting our journalism with your subscription. Our work wouldn't be possible without you. 

Best wishes, 

Nicole Fallert