My hometown is Waynesboro, PA. It is in south central Pennsylvania, about 20 miles from Gettysburg and about 2 miles from the Maryland state line. It is made up of mainly automobile suburbs and there are some pedestrian oriented neighborhoods. It is not very urban, there are no buses or streetcars or metros. There are 10,568 people populating Waynesboro as of the 2010 census. The area that makes up Waynesboro is 3.4 square miles. I was born and raised in Waynesboro and it has been going through some great changes lately; a Walmart was built as well as a number of restaurants. Many developments are being built and it is becoming more populated and busy. It is in the middle of multiple cities and industry areas so for the most part you have to drive out of town to get to your job but these places aren’t very far away usually. It is a great central location for people working in Washington DC who don’t want to live in the city.

The first city I would like to talk about is Rochester. It is an automobile suburb very much like Waynesboro. In Rochester you have to drive everywhere because it is located outside of the city. You have to drive to get to work, to go shopping for needs and wants, and other destinations. The population of Rochester is 210,565 people which is very different from Waynesboro but it just goes to show how large or small an automobile suburb can be. There are also some pedestrian oriented neighborhoods where people can walk to their destinations instead of driving. In November 2014, the city of Rochester started construction of walking and bicycle paths to “encourage sustainable economic growth and create a more livable Downtown, Rochester”. I think Waynesboro would benefit by constructing some of these walking and bicycle paths, by building these paths it is encouraging people to get out and be healthy as well as reducing some traffic and increasing the number of people walking by local shops and parks.

The next city I was interested in that I think Waynesboro could learn from is Copenhagen. The population of Copenhagen is also 50 times greater than Waynesboro’s which gives me a glimmer of hope that a town like mine could become better. I think Copenhagen is one of the coolest places; to have so many people biking everywhere is incredible. Waynesboro has been slowly growing and there is becoming a lot more traffic. The idea of traffic calming would be great and I think that Waynesboro would greatly benefit from calming. There are a good bit of people who walk in Waynesboro but there are multiple pedestrian accidents and deaths each year, by creating slower speeds and a more pedestrian/bicycle friendly environment we could save some lives, create a healthier environment, and a better quality town.