When Americans Arrive in Italy’s Small Towns

And why it all begins with people (not property)

Abstract from my article published by We The Italians.

There’s an Italy you won’t find on postcards: small towns, quiet streets, shutters half-closed, a bar that’s already closing at noon.
For years this Italy stayed still, almost suspended — until people from far away started showing up: Americans, Canadians, Northern Europeans, Australians.

Not tourists.
People looking for a place to build a life.

And the best stories always start in the same way: someone arrives for a house… and ends up staying for the community.
That’s what happened in Latronico, where Mark from Boston came with a “practical plan” and found a new chapter of his life instead.
It happened in Irsina, where newcomers blended in quietly, respectfully.
And in Sambuca and Grottole and Mussomeli and…, where people discovered that you regenerate a town not by buying walls, but by building relationships.

When does it not work?
When the order is reversed: buying first, understanding later. Montieri, Sedini, Ollolai — beautiful places, but not built for expectations created by TV or glossy articles.

Because regeneration is not about real estate.
It’s about people.

That’s why, in the work I do with

ITS ITALY

, we always start with the place, the rhythm, the community. You live there first. You breathe it. You understand it.
Then — maybe — you buy.

Italian villages don’t need buyers.
They need neighbours.
People who want to belong, not just invest.

And when those who arrive meet those who stay, something simple and beautiful happens: both the people and the place start living a little more deeply.