My hometown is Wyomissing, PA, a suburb of the city of Reading located one hour west of Philadelphia. Wyomissing is an upper tier neighborhood in regards to houses, as there are a lot of wealthy people that live in the neighborhood. It is definitely an automobile suburb, as the closest grocery stores are a few miles down the highway, or you drive through the neighborhood to get to it as they are too far for walking distance. In the area alone, there is about 88,000 people living in the Reading area (that’s as of 2013). Reading is one of the poorest cities in the U.S., and a lot of people have moved out of the county as unemployment continues to rise in the county albeit abundant low wage jobs. I grew up in Wyomissing, and the only thing truly sentimental to me was the house my family use to have when I was a kid. Not much has changed there, and the neighborhood is not as safe as it used to be.

The first city I chose was Copenhagen, Denmark. The city has taken exponential measures to become a more environmentally friendly and pedestrian friendly city. Whereas, the use of cars has dropped drastically and city commerce is done through mainly walking and cycling. This transportation mode has resulted in a more friendly city to the people, where many can congregate in common areas such as markets — this is/was where perhaps the location of a parking lot once was, for instance. My hometown area is far from this. People hardly find common grounds to congregate on and would rather drive to their destination and keep to themselves. Nor are they conscientious of their environment. I think, however, some measures have been taken to improve transportation in my area as buses are transitioning to natural gas — a cleaner burning fuel. Given the vastness of the Reading area, I do not think we will see a transition to a pedestrian or cycling friendly transportation mode anytime soon.

The second city I chose from the module was Detroit, Michigan. The idea of urban farming has actually had an uptick in frequency, if you will, in my hometown of Wyomissing. A lot of people have started to grow their own vegetables again in their backyard, as I do the same (when I am home, that is). Suburban farming in this case, provides a sustainable source of vegetables albeit the work involved. Not to mention that you can get it fresh off the plant versus having to get it from a store where it sat for a few days before consumption. While the magnitude of “suburban” farming is not as high as the urban farming in Detroit, I think it has potential to evolve as more local markets start to infiltrate the area once again.