My hometown of Vienna, Virginia is just 15 minutes south of Washington D.C. For being this close to D.C., my town is very pedestrian-oriented and not overly crowded with a population of roughly 16,500 people. The neighborhoods are very family oriented with a mix of traditional colonial styled homes as well as new developments creating an environment for families young and old. Downtown Vienna provides multiple churches and strip malls. In my opinion it is a moderately sized town. It is more of a wealthier area, with the new arrival of a Metro train stop in the town that connects to D.C., and a developing mall brings more and more people every year. I have lived there since I was seven years old and grew up playing little league football. I made a lot of friends and had great childhood memories.
In the reading, I came across Jamaica Plain located in in Boston, Massachusetts. This streetcar suburb’s transportation has always been a problem for gas cost efficiency. This is an area that uses a railcar system, similar to that of my town’s Metro train system. These train rail cars reduce the need for people to stand in traffic and waste fossil fuels, but are somewhat outdated and thus been replaced by new more gas efficient cars as well as public transit busses. Unlike the old rail car, the new Metro Train is a faster way to get from point A to Point B. The Metro in Vienna has increased the availability of people to travel to D.C. and areas around Washington for a lower price and with less stress. The more use of public transit, especially rail cars/ Metro trains will sustain the ozone layer from being breached due to green house gasses released form car emission.
Another area, Beacon Hill located near downtown Boston, is alike my town of Vienna. Beacon Hill is a very a pedestrian-oriented making it easily accessible and of close convenience to shops and workplaces to that of the locals. Beacon Hill is a also alike Vienna in that it is a very wealthy neighborhood. These people live a lifestyle with the choice of transportation. The attractiveness of the neighborhood has people choose to walk rather than drive. Vienna could learn from Beacon Hill in regards to sustainability. Vienna has some sidewalks but people still are prone to driving more than walking, if the town were to add more sidewalks and or paths, the town might walk more and drive less. Driving less would help decrease the amount of green gasses produced.
2 thoughts on “Module 7”
Hi Gavin,
I found your hometown to be very interesting since it is very different from my own hometown, Bellefonte, PA, which is right outside of Penn State. Bellefonte is a much smaller town and has about 5,000 people within the area, it is a big area but it is mostly farmlands so it is considered a automobile suburb. I like that you compared your town to the Jamaica Plain, in Bellefonte we do not have a Metro. We do have a train but the train is for going to different towns and cities not different areas within the town. However, I also compared my town to Beacon Hill because once you are more central in the town itself it is more pedestrian-oriented.
Your blog intrigued me because it had some similarities to my hometown. I’m from a suburb outside of Pittsburgh, PA called Peters Township. Just like your hometown, Peters is very family oriented. We also have a trolley system that’s a ten minute drive away in a neighboring township that takes us into Pittsburgh. I also liked the suggestions you had for how your town could improve. More public transit and more sidewalks is also what I said my hometown needed. These would be a big boost to not only people’s health, but also really help out the environment.
Hi Gavin,
I found your hometown to be very interesting since it is very different from my own hometown, Bellefonte, PA, which is right outside of Penn State. Bellefonte is a much smaller town and has about 5,000 people within the area, it is a big area but it is mostly farmlands so it is considered a automobile suburb. I like that you compared your town to the Jamaica Plain, in Bellefonte we do not have a Metro. We do have a train but the train is for going to different towns and cities not different areas within the town. However, I also compared my town to Beacon Hill because once you are more central in the town itself it is more pedestrian-oriented.
If you are interested in reading about my hometown and the cities I compared it to you can check it out on my blog here:
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/17/make-bellefonte-more-sustainable-andrea-garbrick/
Thanks,
-Andrea
Hey Gavin. My name’s J.R. Here’s the link to my blog if you wanna check it out. http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/16/module-7-2/
Your blog intrigued me because it had some similarities to my hometown. I’m from a suburb outside of Pittsburgh, PA called Peters Township. Just like your hometown, Peters is very family oriented. We also have a trolley system that’s a ten minute drive away in a neighboring township that takes us into Pittsburgh. I also liked the suggestions you had for how your town could improve. More public transit and more sidewalks is also what I said my hometown needed. These would be a big boost to not only people’s health, but also really help out the environment.
Great Job!