1.
My city is Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and it is located in northeastern PA. I live in a township within the city named Hanover Township. Where I’m from has a more automobile suburb feel to it, although it is not exact to the definition in the module. There are many streets for traveling into and around the city, and the township I live in has few sidewalks in residential areas because most people travel by car. In the downtown area of Wilkes-Barre, there are however many sidewalks for people. The setup of the city is that it has many parking garages so people can drive to the city to go to work, park their car in a garage, and walk to their office building or job location. The population of Wilkes-Barre is around 40,000 with a land area of about 7 square miles, so it is decently populated for how big the city is. My connection is that I have lived there all 20 years of my life
2.
The first city I chose was Copenhagen, Denmark. Copenhagen has implemented a more efficient space for pedestrians to walk, bike and do recreational activities without the worry of traffic from automobiles. Wilkes-Barre is much like Copenhagen, where we have many people walking around downtown with a lot of traffic in the form of automobiles. I believe it would be in my city’s best interest to come up with a similar traffic control plan so that pedestrians can coexist with automobile traffic in a more safe matter. I also would like to see the idea of more speed bumps in Wilkes-Barre much like Copenhagen has designed. Many people drive too fast in the suburb areas of Wilkes-Barre making it not safe for pedestrians especially when there are less sidewalks.
3.
The second city I chose is Bogota, Colombia. Every Sunday and holiday, streets for 75 miles are forbidden to have cars on them. This allows for people to walk and use their bikes to get more exercise and reduce pollution produced by automobiles. I believe this would be efficient in my hometown much like the work done in Copenhagen would make a huge impact. If Wilkes-Barre denoted just even one day a month, people would be able to get more exercise, and it would reduce the amount of pollution especially with the amount that is trapped in the city by tall buildings. The module stated that it is more likely to be unhealthy if you live in an automobile suburb because you use your car everywhere you go. This would be an easy yet effective way to get some exercise in the city.
Hi my name is Eric. Your post caught my attention because my hometown is Kingston, Pennsylvania which I’m sure you know is right across the bridge from you. I do agree with you that our area needs to devote time for physical activity as Bogota does. I also wrote in my post that this would improve our area as a whole. Another thing is that I agree with what you said about Copenhagen and I also believe that it would be a lot safer for pedestrians.
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/17/module-7-eric-acosta/
Hello, my name is Ranee and Wilkes-Barre is not very far from my hometown of Honesdale. I even mentioned Wilkes-Barre in my post! Check it out: http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/03/16/honesdale-and-future-developments/
With the high density your town could use more a extensive bus system to cut down on traffic and emissions from travel. The module discussed Curitiba and the impressive bus system created in the town.
Hi John, my name is Ryan and link to my blog is here if you are interested: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/17/sustainable-cities-module-7-3/. I also live in a predominantly automobile community on the western side of Pennsylvania. Greensburg also has parking garages and lots in town for people to park and walk around. I have also found that there are a lot of speeding motorists in my town and speed bumps might help out this problem like your post suggests. I also like what Bogota does with cars being banned on certain days to help out with the pollution problem. I would also like to see if this could work in Greensburg.
Great post, here is a link to mine if you get a chance https://sites.psu.edu/geog30/?p=47052&preview=true
I like how your town of Wilkes-Barre has parking accommodations like garages in the downtown. It at least encourages some walking and slowing down! My town is similar in regards to having only some sidewalks. The older part of the city has them, but anything newer does not. Its too bad, nothing is too far away to walk or bike. We could definitely use more speed bumps because of the lack of sidewalks too! Thanks for your post!