I live in a small little town called New Kensington, which is about a half hour north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In my town, the neighborhoods would be considered more automobile suburbs, where automobiles are used to commute into the city of Pittsburgh and to other nearby places for jobs, shopping, etc. However, at one point this town was more of a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood where downtown New Kensington was in walking distance and had every shop imaginable right there. After years of thriving, the little town started to deteriorate and people started commuting to Pittsburgh to find better jobs which allowed drugs and low SES people move into the area creating an abandoned town. I have grown up in this town, but due to the low level education system, I attended a private school in a neighboring town. Pittsburgh has a population of about 305,000 people, but my little town of New Kensington is only about 15,000 people. I personally do not like New Kensington simply because the education system is poor and there is a major drug and crime problem in the area. However, I do wish that I lived there during the time where the city flourished and it was safe and easy to walk downtown and spend the day down there like my parents used to.

The first city that I am going to talk about is Copenhagen. I think that in general this change of the area shows that a choice can be made in order to change a city for the better and make it more sustainable. The aspect of Copenhagen that I think is the most significant part is the fact that the idea of changing transportation seemed impossible, but it still was successful. The idea of transportation in my city is relevant because there are sidewalks and buses available, but people still choose to use automobiles. Indeed, this is a collective action problem in my area because there is the opportunity for urban design to be taken advantage of by choosing to rebuild downtown New Kensington. I feel that my town could easily become sustainable or at least take a step towards sustainability by following the example of Copenhagen’s urban design and transportation.

The next city that I am talking about is Bogota, which is in Colombia. I related my town to this city because of the drug cartel that is associated with the area. Even though this was a problem, the area is still able to be active in sustainable development by changing the transportation system slightly. I relate this idea to my town because even a small step towards sustainability would be extremely helpful. This small step could help issues of transportation and air quality through urban design by forbidding vehicles for one day a week.  I like the idea that you don’t need a lot of money to participate in these events because the town I am from is a very poor town. I like this idea because it allows families and people to enjoy the city and area that they live in and it increases human health and improvement in sustainability.