I live in a city West Nyack in New York. It is located approximately 18 miles north of New York City, on the western side of the Hudson River. West Nyack is absolutely an automobile suburb. My house is located on its own plot of land, and my neighbors on all sides are approximately an acre away. The main shopping stores are concentrated in their own area and take 5-10 minutes to drive to. According to Wikipedia, the population of West Nyack is 3,439 people living in a 2.9 square mile area. To me, West Nyack will always be my home. I was born and raised in West Nyack and have been living in the same house for all of my life. I could not imagine my parents moving and selling the house. I hope to live in New York City one day so I can remain close by to home.

The city presented in the module which most closely represents West Nyack is Rochester, New York. Rochester is also an automobile suburb, where cars are the primary transportation method, and are necessary for living in the area. The areas that comprise Rochester are all single use, like West Nyack. The urban density is also going to be on the same order as West Nyack, where there is minimal development per unit area of land. I believe that for these automobile suburbs, sustainable development is certainly achievable, but is probably very limited. Without complete reconstruction of the towns and cities, sustainable development can be achieved by improving the existing homes. Things like solar panels, better insulation, and more economic appliances can reduce the energy consumption of each household. From there, it can be effective to introduce more bus routes in a neighborhood which can reduce the number of cars being used.

The city presented in the module which represents the complete opposite of West Nyack would be Beacon Hill in Boston. Beacon Hill is a pedestrian oriented neighborhood, which prioritizes walking as the primary transportation method. The urban density is so large in Beacon Hill, compared to West Nyack, because of the huge amount of development per unit area, which equates to large apartment buildings and shopping centers which are all connected with narrow streets. I feel that if West Nyack was converted to a urban center such as Beacon Hill, it could become incredibly sustainable, but to do so would require humongous amounts of effort and complete cognitive transformations by the residents in West Nyack. By moving people closer together, and making the city a walking city, automobile transportation could be completely removed. Also with the knowledge of sustainable development today, compared to the knowledge when New York City was being built, a new city could be one of the most sustainable in the world.