Life is hard without a car

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So I am lucky enough to be from Bellefonte Pennsylvania which is about 5 miles away from our campus. It is a small town with roughly around 10,000 people. It is very pedestrian oriented town. After I left for college I really lost all connection to the town itself. I really don’t believe that there is anything that really ties me to it or the need to be around it. I believe that it is a great area being so close to Penn State but honestly, I believe that it wouldn’t be able to survive without the local business that comes from the university.

 

The first city I am going to relate to is Beacon Hill, Boston, Mass. It has a lot of different shopping opportunities that bring in business. Luckily it continues to be low key with many opportunities to take walks. The town is very pedestrian orientated with the numerous amounts of sidewalks for the community to easily access from anywhere. Due to the many amounts of sidewalks and accessible walking paths, it is not required to have a car to get to work or to shop. Bellefonte has a mix of a lot of sidewalks in the inner parts of the city but whenever it comes to the outer parts of it you can not live in the outskirts of Bellefonte without a car. There is so much country that you will not be able to attend work etc without it.

 

The second city I’m going to talk about is Copenhagen. The traffic there is a norm. They are very respectful of different events that are going on to shut down for foot traffic. But many people still choose to have a car. The town is very car heavy. I do believe though that they are moving to be a more pedestrian friendly society. I think that Copenhagen can actually look at this and take note. Bellefonte has not moved forward with trying to make the town less car heavy in a long time. So with possibly moving forward with new innovative ideas, they could all benefit.

4 thoughts on “Life is hard without a car”

  2. Hi, Alisha,
    I liked your comparison of Bellefonte to Beacon Hill and how in Bellefonte, like Beacon Hill, you can get around fairly easily unless you live outside of Bellefonte. It’s interesting how small towns can correlate to areas within large cities, whereas, within a relatively small area it is easy to get around. But, if you’re from afar, then finding a car/truck for transportation is needed. Interesting points of view in your post. Here is a link to my article post if you get a chance to read it. Nice job! http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/author/hzs5199/

  3. Hi Alisha, I am Kristin!
    I found your post interesting because your hometown reminded me a lot of how my hometown in Doylestown is. We too have sidewalks for pedestrians and offer bus transportation if you live in the actual town part of Doylestown. However if you are in the outskirts of the town, which is where most of the people live, you must have a car to get around. I also picked Copenhagen as one of my cities and found that they are moving toward a pedestrian friendly society. I found out that they have areas there to encourage biking and cycling has become the social norm there. I feel as though if our town encouraged this even though things are a bit farther away, we could also cut down on car traffic and air pollution.
    Here is my post if you would like to check it out! https://wp.me/p3RCAy-c0j

  4. Hi Alisha I’m Victoria! Your town is the complete opposite from mine in every way, but that’s why your post caught my eye. My town could learn a lot from yours as yours is more pedestrian oriented whereas mine is an automobile suburb. You would think in the outskirts of Bellefonte is where there would be less cars as the road wouldn’t be too dangerous if they weren’t busy. It is good to see that there are only some cars being used, and your town seems very sustainable.
    Here’s a link to my blog post http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/18/lets-turn-unsustainable-to-sustainable/

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