I live in a small town in North central Pennsylvania by the name of Osceola. I will be discussing the joint area of Osceola and Elkland in Tioga County because the towns are right next to each other. This is a largely rural area built for automobile transportation. In town there are not many businesses, but there is school so ease of access via automobile is important to sustain the school. More importantly Corning, NY is within a 30 minute drive. A state route and the northern corridor of Interstate 99 provide access to Corning. Corning has far more opportunity for work so many people in the Elkland/Osceola area drive to Corning to work. Elkland is a small town with houses that are close to one another. Osceola is a smaller town yet with a small town like structure towards the center and houses spanned out over large distances. Osceola has a grocery store, post office, and a few churches, but it mostly it consists of farms. Elkland has small businesses including restaurants, a hunting supply store and a bank. Osceola spans an area of 13.9 square miles with a population of 700 people, and Elkland occupies 2.3 square miles with a population of 1,800 people. I am connected to this area because it is where I grew up and went to school. I learned how to hunt and fish in this area and I worked my first job at a local grocery store.

The first city I would like to compare the Elkland/Osceola are to is Rochester, NY. Rochester is only a few hours away from my home area, so naturally it is a very similar kind of urban design. Rochester is an automobile transportation area too, as mentioned in the module. There are rural areas around Rochester that use roads to allow people to drive into Rochester every day for work. My area could be more efficient if the automobile transportation aspect was implemented closer to a larger area. Being so far from Corning makes driving inefficient compared to if Elkland/Osceola was more like Rochester and built automobile neighborhoods closer to the area people need to commute to.

Copenhagen is an interesting city to compare my area to. My home area is not similar to Copenhagen very much at all. There is no real push to stop driving so much to cut back on emissions. This may be because there isn’t much pollution from the little area that includes Elkland and Osceola. Also, Elkand and Osceola residents rely on their cars to get them to work and everywhere else. Even getting around town usually consists of driving. Unless you’re a kid that is not old enough to drive, there is no real consistent and encompassing use of bicycles to get around town. Walking is more of a leisurely activity as well. Most people walk around Elkland to get out of the house or as a form of exercise. However, if someone needs to go to the bank or anywhere else they tend to drive even if its a few blocks away. I think this is similar to Copenhagen’s characteristic of taking for granted how the town works. Everyone has lived for so long driving cars around the area that they don’t consider there may better ways to maintain a sustainable environment. I think Elkland/Osceola should try to follow in Copenhagen’s footsteps and promote local bicycle usage along with walking to cut down on unnecessary driving to get somewhere that is only a few minute walk away. This would make the town more sustainable and save money on gas and decrease emissions in the air around the town.