For Elizabeth Milnarik’s money, it doesn’t come any more made-for-a-postcard picturesque than the part of town she called home while pursuing her master’s in architecture in the '90s.
“Urbana, close to campus, is about the most beautiful place ever. I lived there much of my college life, and always think of walking beneath the beautiful, arching trees, with turning leaves rustling around my feet,” Milnarik says from Washington, D.C.
“The muted streetlights, and varied houses ... it’s what every residential neighborhood should try to be.”
Other fond memories for the University of Virginia adjunct professor, a historical architect for the National Park Service:
— The compliment a faculty member paid her — and via her father, no less: “I’m forever grateful to Professor James Barrett of the history department. After working with him on several projects as an undergraduate, at graduation he told my Dad something like ‘Elizabeth is smart, but more than that, she works hard, and that’s what’s important.’
“It’s always been an inspiration to me.”
— A little fuzzier, this memory: “Peeling dripping varnish off the tables as I got slowly drunk on pitchers of beer and yelled about something or other at crowded Murphy’s, before they expanded ... that was a good time.”
