Honesdale and Future Developments

I grew up in Honesdale Pennsylvania. This is a small town in the northeast corner of the state with a population of 4,312 during the last census in 2013. The town officially covers 4.023 square miles but I consider myself a resident regardless of being a half mile outside of the boarder. Within the area that is officially Honesdale there are two types of neighborhoods. The center and areas surrounding between the center and the local high school a mile away are all Pedestrian-Oriented Neighborhoods with a few more automobile friendly roads cutting through the middle. The rest of the town is primarily Automobile Suburbs. There is no public transportation in the town with the exception of a bus stop for a coach bus taking passengers to a larger town across the border in New York. This only comes to town three times a week. Most of the shopping in the area is over a mile away from where the sidewalks end leaving Honesdale. I believe that the current lack of public transportation is hindering possible growth in the area.

The first city from the module I would like to discuss is Detroit and its Urban Farming. I was very impressed by the productive use of land and how the community came together to support one another and thrive. My town is surrounded by farm land and farmers and although many have independent stores normally located on the property they farm from it is very far from the mass of the population. If my town were to hold farmers market open to the public more often then those in the town would have alternatives to buying food from other regions with less inconvenience and sales would increase in these areas. Furthermore farmers could also participate in farmers markets outside of our small town to bring healthier food options to the cities surrounding us including Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Monticello. These towns are within an hour drive have significantly greater population. I know of multiple buildings in the town that are large enough and stand empty at this time. These would be perfect areas for such events to happen regularly.

The second city I would like to discuss is Curitiba and its bus system. I was impressed by the ease created for use of the busses which decreased wasted time. The planning of routes was highly effective in creating such a beneficial system. For my town transportation should start being made available from the main residential area to the main shopping areas. If designing for expansion and increased use were to happen now then it could become highly efficient and decrease the traffic in the town currently. The problems faced for Curitiba against a subway would increase once the consideration of geography was added for the problems my town would face. Due to the water ways, terrain, developed areas, and elevation differences this would be all but impossible making busses the smarter option.

4 thoughts on “Honesdale and Future Developments

  1. Hello my name is Eric. Your post caught my eye because our towns are pretty close to each other. I am from Kingston, Pennsylvania and I actually ran track against Honesdale multiple times. I agree with what you said about how impressive the bus system is in Curitiba and I do believe that it could be implemented in both of our towns. In my post I also talked about how local farming would improve the city as a whole. It would improve the health of the people and also increase the people’s income if they decide to sell their crops.

    http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/17/module-7-eric-acosta/

  2. Hi Ranee, I am Laurene. First, let me mention it was easy to envision the town you described. I also speak about a small Pennsylvanian town similar in scale and urban design as yours and how it can benefit from more farmers markets. You can find my post here: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/16/lewisburg-pa-compared-to-copenhagen-and-detroit/
    Involving local farmers and increasing the amount and days that farmer’s markets are open can benefit the health of the town and reduce the impact of transporting food. As I said, I was visualizing your towns situation, and ideally a subway would be nice, but it would probably cost more than it would benefit. I like your idea of buses to transport people from residential areas to the center and back. A bus that ran on the hour would be an excellent solution for your town.

  3. Hello! My name is Kayla. Your town sounds pretty similar to my own small town. There is no public transportation in my town as well. I think having a farmer’s market would be great for your town. I agree it would be a great way for farmer’s to gain more profit and provide convenience and healthy food to your community. I also talked about Detroit’s farming initiative and positive impact of public transportation in my own blog post:
    http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/13/module-7-urban-planning/

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