Jen Kinney

I’m Jen: Jen Kinney, 25, living in Seattle in a big blue house with eight roommates, learning to knit and to play the guitar, recently taken up lap swimming and I’m starting a garden, even though I probably won’t be living in this city long enough to reap its rewards, still, it feels good to shape the earth with my hands.

I work and live in words. I’m a contributing writer for Next City, where I write about public art, public transit, public parks, and the complexities of cities. I studied photography in college, and spent a year photographing a small town in Alaska, but no, I’m not working on any photography projects right now and I mostly feel guilty when you ask, thanks. I dream about rehabilitating a crumbling house in Philadelphia. I also dream about living in a shack in the dry hills above the salt flats of Utah. My dear, frenetic, loving partner, Steve is the same way—except I think he imagines a mountain cabin instead of a desert madness—so we’re never quite sure what the future looks like, day to day.

Richard and I went to high school together, and then one day, by chance, I ran into him at a public talk in New York City. Nomadism has its benefits, after all.