I come from Bairdford a small rural town that is 30 min north of the city of Pittsburgh.  During the industrial steel boom that occurred in Pittsburgh in the earlier 20^th century, my town along with many others that surround Pittsburgh were responsible to mine coal that was used to run the large steel furnaces.  Bairdford includes many windy rural back-roads, as well as long straight roads beside farmland.  According to the census taken in 2010, there are just under seven hundred residents, but if you were to include the outlying homes it would be a fair estimate of just under a thousand.  I’ve fallen in love with the small town feel that I have grew up with, as well as the connection to nature and the environment I’ve gained from the rural atmosphere.

In the reading, we came across a region in Boston, Massachusetts called Beacon Hill.  This area is well known for its “walker friendly” atmosphere.  The area was developed in the 1800s to allow residents to be within walking distances to much of the necessities and commodities that they need.  This is because traveling far distances for things was a challenge and time consuming.  Beacon Hill still has goods and services within walking distances.  I believe that communities like this will be very common in the near future. Although Bairdford wouldn’t be considered an automobile suburbs, but most if not all attractions, stores, and functions are only accessible by cars.  Using Beacon Hill’s close knit community in Bairdford would greatly help make the town more sustainable with less cars driving to get to and fro.

In the reading, we get a second prospective from Boston, Massachusetts. A region called Jamaica Plain.  In this area the community employs a streetcar to get to the city from the suburbs.  From talking with my grandparents, streetcars were quite common in their days as a mean of transportation from the suburbs where most people lived, to the city, where most people worked.  The idea of streetcars, and other clean transits to get into the city should be re-introduced in modern communities today.  Many people today can relate to how congested and aggravating the “rush hour” traffic is to get to and from the city in their personal cars.  With the technology today, an efficient monorail system can be employed to move the working commuters from their suburban/rural home in Bairdford to the city.  This would cut down on the number of cars that pollute their way to work, as well as reduce the traffic coming in and out of the city.