What is a "sense of place"? According to Bill Maxwell it is a place where you feel that you belong. Bill grew up in Fort Lauderdale, belonging to a gang called the "Allen Appartment Boys". He did not feel at home though in the gang filled area, and did not find what he called his "sense of place" until he moved to Stuckey's Still. I do agree with Bill that there is such thing as a "sense of place", but I don't think of it as the same thing.
A "sense of place" does not have to be a real place that you can go to and visit. To me it is just a state of mind. A state of mind is a place where you can go to think about what's happening in your life. As in the movie Happy Gilmore when Chubs tells Happy to go to his "happy place." This is what I think a sense of place is.
My sense of place is a place of solitude, silence, and my thoughts about my life. Often, just good memories can act as my "sense of place;" thinking of something in my life that is happy can drown out the random sorrows of the world. Bill Maxwell's actual happy place is his "sense of place", where as my "sense of place" is my "happy place.".
Even though Bill Maxwell and I have different opinions on what a sense of place actually is, we both believe that it does exist. He believes that it is an actual place, and I, a state of mind. Every different place in the world does have a different state of mind to it. So, a "sense of place" is both a place and a state of mind.