My hometown is Ramsey, NJ. It is located in the northeastern tip of New Jersey. Being so far north, NYC is only 30 minutes away. I would consider Ramsey a medium sized town, compared to surrounding towns. The population has hovered around 15,000 people for the last 25 years. The urban density is low, the main dwelling are single family homes. I consider Ramsey to be an automobile suburb with few sidewalks. While there is two train stations and numerous bike paths, cars are needed to get most places, since a highway divides the town. The trains are manly used for citizens commuting into the city. Main Street is the town hub, there are many restaurants, businesses, and our high school. The streets of Copenhagen are somewhat similar. Even this street with so much packed on a 1 mile road, cars are still the popular mode for transportation, and when the train stops in town Main Street becomes a parking lot. Besides a few local gardeners the idea of urban agriculture is non-existent.
Comparing Copenhagen and Ramsey is like comparing apples and oranges. Ramsey’s main street gives off a similar feel to many of Copenhagen’s pedestrian streets, but that is really the only similarity. The social norm is to still use cars even in these denser parts of Ramsey. I think it’s fair to assume that Ramsey’s car use compared to Copenhagen’s has caused a difference in air pollution. Ramsey does have some smoggy days every once and a while. Unfortunately, I don’t believe Ramsey will ever be able to eliminate cars as well as Copenhagen. Ramsey is very suburban so everything is very spaced out, which causes a very low urban density compared to Copenhagen. It would just not be effective for Ramsey citizens to walk everywhere. If Ramsey could renovate the bike paths and make a biking bridge over the highway, Ramsey could try and change the social norm from cars to bikes. Without a big change in transportation social norms, the sustainability in Ramsey will never compare to that of Copenhagen.
I was pleasantly surprised with the video describing Detroit’s urban farming. Detroit’s dwindling population is beginning to drop the urban density to that of a large suburb similar to Ramsey. Ramsey has very little to no urban agriculture besides for a few local gardeners and a monthly farmers market. I feel that Ramsey has the land and a decent climate for a long growing season, in fact Ramsey became populated because of its strawberry farms during the early 1900s. If Ramsey could change their social norms back to local farming, it would not only give Ramsey’s citizens a trustworthy source of fresh food, but the town sustainability will increase. If Ramsey residents staring growing their own food in their suburban backyards, car use would also decrease since people would not need to drive to the supermarket as much. It seems plausible that urban farming could increase Ramsey’s sustainability in more than one way. I believe reforming Ramsey’s social norm to those of Detroit would be possible and the benefits will be well worth it.
3 thoughts on “Nick Gasparovich- Module 7”
Hi Nick! My name is Mara and I am a Education Major at Penn State UP. Your post really stood out to me because I am from Wyckoff, and I go to your Main Street quite often. Just like living in Ramsey, Wyckoff residents mainly take cars everywhere they go, except when traveling into the city, residents use public transportation like the bus or train. I found it very interesting when you talked about Ramsey growing their own food. This really stood out to me and I believe it is a great idea! Good job! If you want to check out my post, here is my link: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/17/module-7-urban-planning-5/
Hi Nick,
Similar to the area that you live in, my town, Westfield, NJ, is very close to New York City. Being so close to the City, I’m sure that you have people that commute there. As a result, I agree with the idea of moving away from cars, either biking or in the case of my post, towards buses. Public transportation is more fuel efficient, and could be very beneficial in commuter areas like ours. I also found it interesting how you spoke about Ramsey turning back into growing their own food. I think in areas where people have backyards it would work really well. In my towns case, with small backyards, finding open lots would be the best.
Hey Nick! My name is Cassandra and I was interested in your blog mainly because we are both from a similar part of New Jersey, so it is easy to relate to your statements. Our social norm in my neighborhood in Belmar is to use automobiles because this is basically the only way we can commute to our jobs in the city; although downtown Belmar walks because everything is so close to each other! Just like your town, our Main Street in Belmar consists of train stops, biking over bridges, and of course a population around the same amount as yours! Great post! Feel free to check it out if you have a chance! http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/16/cassandra-oresko-sustainability-module-7/
Hi Nick! My name is Mara and I am a Education Major at Penn State UP. Your post really stood out to me because I am from Wyckoff, and I go to your Main Street quite often. Just like living in Ramsey, Wyckoff residents mainly take cars everywhere they go, except when traveling into the city, residents use public transportation like the bus or train. I found it very interesting when you talked about Ramsey growing their own food. This really stood out to me and I believe it is a great idea! Good job! If you want to check out my post, here is my link: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/17/module-7-urban-planning-5/
Hi Nick,
Similar to the area that you live in, my town, Westfield, NJ, is very close to New York City. Being so close to the City, I’m sure that you have people that commute there. As a result, I agree with the idea of moving away from cars, either biking or in the case of my post, towards buses. Public transportation is more fuel efficient, and could be very beneficial in commuter areas like ours. I also found it interesting how you spoke about Ramsey turning back into growing their own food. I think in areas where people have backyards it would work really well. In my towns case, with small backyards, finding open lots would be the best.
You can read my blog below.
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/16/module-7-how-to-change-westfield/
Hey Nick! My name is Cassandra and I was interested in your blog mainly because we are both from a similar part of New Jersey, so it is easy to relate to your statements. Our social norm in my neighborhood in Belmar is to use automobiles because this is basically the only way we can commute to our jobs in the city; although downtown Belmar walks because everything is so close to each other! Just like your town, our Main Street in Belmar consists of train stops, biking over bridges, and of course a population around the same amount as yours! Great post! Feel free to check it out if you have a chance! http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/16/cassandra-oresko-sustainability-module-7/