My hometown is Minersville, Pennsylvania. My address states Pottsville but I live within the Minersville Area School District. I have a strong connection to Minersville because I have lived here my entire life. I have not lived in the same house my entire life. My dad likes to build, so my family and I have moved quite a bit! Most of my family members, such as aunts and uncles, live within 25 minutes of me. The population of Minersville is approximately around 4,500 people. Minersville is a very small town and I would consider it to be an Automobile Suburb. In town, there are a few sidewalks with small shops, but a car is needed to get from one place to another outside of town. If you live in the main part of town it’s easy to walk to the public pool, the schools, and more. Minersville and surrounding towns provide public transportation systems such as buses. The neighborhood I live in does not have sidewalks. There are a couple stores such as a pharmacy, grocery store, hair salon and restaurants about three minutes if I were to drive from my house (not a safe walk). This area of stores is called King Village. People who live in town and do not have a car can walk to this area.

The first city from the module that I want to discuss about is Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts.  Beacon Hill is north of Boston Common and adjacent to downtown Boston. Just like Beacon Hill, Minersville is an urban area designed to make walking distances reasonable. Beacon Hill is similar to downtown Pottsville (which in 5 minutes away from my house) because it includes several places to work, to shop, and seek entertainment, among other things. Walking in Pottsville is a more attractive option if you’re going to places within the town. Unfortunately, not a lot of people use bicycles or walk. Most people rely on cars or busses to get from one place to another. Beacon Hill makes the environment more sustainable because reduces the amount of health issues and decreases pollution from automobiles. My town can lean ideas and methods from Beacon Hill to reduce these issues in order to stay more sustainable.

The second city from the module that I want to discuss about is Rochester, NY. The picture shown in the module looks similar to the terrace I live in. Rochester is an automobile suburb with a variety of neighborhoods just like Boston and also my hometown.  Rochester, there are no sidewalks because they are built with the assumption that people will not walk along the streets. This is similar to the neighborhood I live in. To get to destinations such as a grocery store, offices, restaurants, and banks a car is needed. If Minersville was to redevelop and put in more sidewalks and make stores and offices in a much closer distance, we could be a lot more efficient.  Much like Rochester, very rarely does anyone walk to get anywhere unless they are down the street. This would lead to fewer cars on the road which would help reduce pollution and also people walking to bus stops encourages exercise.