My hometown is a suburb about 45 minutes from Philadelphia called Ivyland. I would definitely consider this town an automobile suburb, due to the fact that I have only one neighbor that would be considered even close to walking distance. The population of my town is probably somewhere close to two or three hundred, because of the way the houses are so spread apart. One cool thing about my town is that it is almost surrounded by woods. This allows for some awesome views especially when the leaves start to change in the fall. It is definitely a different feel than it would be living in a city, but after getting used to the peacefulness of being secluded, it is hard to live in a crowded area.
One city that caught my attention from the module was the urban farming in Chicago. These farms will be able to supply hundreds of people with food, which may be a problem in a big city, but more importantly, it provides a relaxed and scenic view for its citizens. Gardening can be a huge stress reliever to many people, and by giving these people places to grow natural plants is very important. This relates to my hometown, Ivyland, because we already have tons of plants and wildlife all around us. As I stated in the first paragraph, these views always provided me with a sense of relaxation or calmness even in the most stressful of times. To incorporate this into many cities would, in my opinion, lower a lot of the anxiety and depression that seems to be running rampant today.
Another city that has really good ideas when it comes to sustainability is Curibita, Brazil. They claim to have one of best subway systems in the world, and it could be saving not only the consumers, but also the world. This system has busses running just about every minute, while still keeping their service cheap and affordable. In my hometown, there is virtually no public transportation at all. This results in everyone driving a car, everyone having to buy gas, and worst of all: everyone polluting the environment, If my town took an approach more similar to Curibitas, we could save ourselves cash while also saving the environment.
Hi! My name is Caitlyn and I really enjoyed your post because I have never even heard of Ivyland and I am also from outside of Philly, but I guess we are in opposite directions 🙂 I enjoy how you talked about how gardening could be a stress reliever for some people, because I don’t think people realize that even though we want to be healthy by using urban farming, that also should mean mentally. I agree with your last paragraph, my town (King of Prussia) also has no bus system really and there are so many cars. It really hurts the environment and traffic is insane. If a bus system were to be put into place it would be great.
Here’s a link to my post if you wanna check it out! http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/17/caitlyn-ramirez-module-7/
Hi there! My name is Tawnya and I really enjoyed your post. I agree about gardening being a huge stress reliever. I grew up in a suburban area and my family primarily relied on the fruits and vegetables produced in our garden. I always loved the relaxation of watering the plants and watching them grow. This urban agriculture is also offering a valuable social space, bringing the community together. It is also beneficial that these plants are providing better air quality and there’s no pollution created from transportation because of the convenient, urban locations of gardens. The subway system in Brazil caught my eye as well. My hometown also does not have public transportation and I wish we could take a more sustainable approach, too. I guess it’s just harder in suburban areas because the majority of people would have to drive to the subway station, ultimately defeating the purpose. If interested, check out my post: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/16/module-vii-sustainable-cities/
Thanks!
Sincerely,
Tawnya
Hi my name is John and my blog can be found at http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/author/jfw5180/.
I enjoyed your blog because of how much our towns differ. My town has more houses and buildings close together yet we still classify both as automobile suburbs. I was however interested in different cities for different reasons. I am a big believer in biking and wish my city would implement either more bike lanes or less automobile traffic since everything is so close together. In your case however with everything being so far apart I’m not sure it would have the same outcome.