I’m from Syracuse, New York. Depending on what kind of “New Yorker” you ask, Syracuse is considered Upstate. It’s about 4 hours from Manhattan, close to Buffalo and Rochester, NY. Syracuse is definitely an automobile suburb, as majority of people use cars or the bus services to get from place to place. According to the U.S. census, in 2014, the population of Syracuse, NY is estimated to be about 144,263 people. Syracuse isn’t huge but it has a lot of businesses and companies within it, which opens doors for a lot of job opportunities to its residents, along with residents in surrounding areas. If you live in the heart of downtown in Syracuse, walking to get to places is pretty convient, as there’s restaurants, convient stores and apartments almost on every block. If you love in the section of the city where I do though, everything is still within about a 5-10 mile radius but you drive to get to said places.

A city I choose from the module, is New York City. I choose this city because even though it’s part of New York, which is the state I live in, our cities differ in many ways. In NYC, many people live in very tall apartment buildings or tightly packed town homes. As mentioned in the module, higher density can be achieved via taller buildings and narrower streets, therefore pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods, which NYC is, has high density and Syracuse, where I live, which is an automobile suburb, has a lower density. Also as mentioned, transportation is, very fundamental to the proper functioning of a city, therefor a city is more likely to succeed when people can get around town easily, quickly, inexpensively, and safely. New York has many public transportation options including buses and trains that operate frequently and conveniently. When homes and businesses are close together, it reduces the distances required for transportation and makes it easier to walk or bike from place to place. It can also help certain types of businesses.

The other city I found interesting from the module was Bogotá, Colombia. I found this city intriguing because they have Ciclovia, which is when they shut down 75 miles of streets to make them car-free. Thinking about an event like this happening in Syracuse or even NYC, seems nearly impossible. As mentioned in the module, the health of people living in cities is affected by many factors and one of those factors is the amount of exercise that the residents get. When we drive everywhere, like in an automobile suburb where I live, we don’t get any exercise unless we go out of our way for it, like driving to the gym. When residents walk and bike everywhere, like in a pedestrian-orientated neighborhood such as  Bogotá, they get a lot of exercise just by simply getting around town. So as the module suggested, there should be no surprise that people who live in pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods and streetcar suburbs are on average healthier than people who live in automobile suburbs, such as myself. I also found it interesting that promoting resident health is another reason people may favor high-density, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented development. I think I could definitely live in a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood such as Bogotá.