I originate from San Juan, Puerto Rico. San Juan is the capital of Puerto Rico, so it is a very highly active city town. Where I live mostly it is an automobile suburb, actually most of the island’s living areas are automobile suburbs. The municipality itself has a few areas of urban downtown, though no specific downtown area. The population as of 2010 is around 395,000 people all distributed through a various types of urban landscapes. I was raised in San Juan for most of my life, I personally love the place due to it having such a blend of both historical areas and urban life. There are a lot of problems with it, crime, abandoned buildings, decreasing population is affecting the local economy, but overall it is a very great place to be around. An issue is that public transportation is fairly poor and limited, so not having a car means you won’t be able to get around much

Boston actually holds a lot of similarities to San Juan regarding how many varied urban landscapes are found in such a small area. Having personally been to Boston and it being mentioned in the readings gave me a good insight as to what comparisons are there. There are clear automobile suburbs in certain areas as well as an urban downtown. Though in Boston the downtown is more clearly defined as a single area than San Juan which has several. Something that Boston does have an advantage is that their public transportation system is much more efficient which in turn allows pedestrians to be able to commute around the city with relative ease and without the dependence of a car. This reduces traffic and lowers the carbon footprint in the environment around it.

A city which probably has the most difference to where I am from is definitely Copenhagen. It having such a heavy cycling culture around it makes it a very interesting contrast to what I was raised in. The conditions there are much cleaner for transportation options and also inspires people to be generally healthier and has good air quality. This form of urban transit would be generally better for urban downtowns of San Juan as well as the old Spanish area. All this would translate for faster movement throughout the city, it would be safer for those living in the area, and could greatly reduce transportation costs. Something that differs though is the fact that Copenhagen is around half the size of San Juan, so that is a factor regarding the feasibility of doing this in my home town.