I come from a fairly small but active town called Doylestown, which is located about an hour drive north of Philadelphia. I have lived in the suburbs just outside the town, which is considered within Doylestown Township, my entire life. Because of this, I have grown up to become very used to this town, as well as learning many things about it and the people who live there. It is full of restaurants, bars, museums, and a variety of other things that attract many types of people. The town consists of a fairly pedestrian-friendly downtown area that is surrounded by many automobile-suburb type of areas and neighborhoods. The population of the downtown area is a little over 8,000 people, however when including the surrounding suburbs of the whole township, the population rises to about 18,000. Because of this, the town is easily accessible, with cars, to many more people who live just outside the downtown areas.

The video in this module did a great job of showcasing Denmark’s efforts to make the city a very pedestrian friendly and help the economy thrive. These methods can be applied to Doylestown. The downtown area is already a pedestrian friendly place, with dense placement of businesses and being nice to walk around. However, I think this can be expanded greatly if the town is made more accessible without using cars to the very high population of people outside of the town. Where I live, there is no easy way to walk or ride a bicycle into the town due to narrow fast roads and a lack of paths, despite the town not being far away. It is the same story for most of the surrounding area. Since most people drive cars into the town, there’s often a shortage of parking spaces and traffic becomes congested. If more walkways and pedestrian friendly methods of transportation into the town are implemented, it will help keep the town more sustainable, increase business, and make it a nicer place to be.

Lessons can be taken from the urban farming in Detroit and implemented in my hometown of Doylestown, despite the two being drastically different places. Doylestown is surrounded by a decent amount of farmland, but much of it is being turned into suburbs and neighborhoods. In order to preserve the local food availability and sustainability, we can adopt some of these urban farming techniques. More local grown food markets like the one shown in the video can be created within the town. Being a fairly wealthy and thriving area, many of Doylestown’s residents would be happy to support something like this and purchase more locally gown food if it was easier to buy. A movement like this in my hometown would bring in more business, create healthier diets, and make the town overall more sustainable.