Part 1:

I was born in Northeast Philadelphia but have spent most of my life in Yardley, PA.  Yardley is located in Bucks Country which is about 30 minutes north of Philadelphia and 10 minutes from Trenton. Yardley is primarily an automobile suburb because it is in a lot of farm land so things are pretty spread out, except for in the borough which is a small “downtown” and mostly pedestrian oriented. From the 2010 census about 2,500 people live in Yardley. I am very connected to Yardley because I have spent most of my life their. Also when I lived in Philly I traveled to Yardley to play hockey and met a lot of friends so when we moved I was around all my friends and got to go to school with them in the Pennsbury school district.

Part 2:

The first city I am going to talk about is Beacon Hill which is located in Boston, MA. I chose this city because it reminds me a little bit of how the borough is in Yardely. Like Beacon Hill, Yardely is very historic and was founded in 1683, so it has a historic feel in its architecture and layout. Even though this layout is very appealing to walk a lot of residents still drive as their primary  from of travel. I Like how Beacon Hill promotes walking which is good for everyone involved. Walking results in less infrastructure costs because the roads aren’t being abused by cars and walking promotes healthy living for the residents. I believe that this approach can be adopted by Yardley and improve the city’s sustainability.

The second city I chose is Copenhagen, Denmark. I found Copenhagen very interesting because bike travel is considered a norm there and here bikers are almost considered a nuisance. It was a big risk they took disallowing cars in the main street of the city in 1962 but it ended up working wonderfully. I also like how Copenhagen changed old parking lots into town squares and they now have eight for residents to enjoy. I think that their approach to sustainability is a unique and very effective one that can be implemented in any city, including Yardley, PA.  With the close proximity of businesses and activities in Yardley Borough I think they could close the main street, just like Copenhagen, and remain to be just as, if not more, successful in there economy. Also the benefit for the residents and the environment would be massive, less car emissions, and more exercise for residents.