I live in Chester County, Pennsylvania. I live in a town called West Chester, though I attended Downingtown High School. West Chester has about 19,000 people while Downingtown is home to about 7,000. West Chester is located about forty-five minutes North-West of Philadelphia. I would describe this area as a prime example of an automobile suburb. This is because it is almost impossible, living in the small development that I do, to travel anywhere without a car. Although some may argue that biking is an option, the closest grocery store is 5 miles down an extremely busy road. Although Downingtown seems like a fairly small metropolitan area, I graduated with a class of about 500 and there are three high schools in the district. I do have a strong connection to this area because of my family’s orchard, called Highland Orchards. I spend a lot of time in this much-less inhabited area of my hometown.

The first city from the module that caught my eye was Copenhagen. The main idea that was discussed about this city is the fact that bicycle transportation is considered the norm. Although, as I previously stated, my town is not well-suited for this type of travel, I think that this is a very sustainable method that could take West Chester into the future. Another aspect that Copenhagen incorporates is the pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods. Although the traffic going through West Chester has many limitations, I think that more of these pedestrian-oriented roads could benefit the environment as well as increase the overall health of the area. By adapting the roads to be more suitable to both bicycles and pedestrians, I think that the city of West Chester could become a more eco-friendly place, similar to Copenhagen.

The second place where I saw some extraordinary efforts was the district in Haiti from the video. Although this is an area that has repeatedly been devastated in recent years, through the earthquake, through economics, and through lack of medicine and technology, they have found a way to create a sustainable program. The video states that all unused or broken tires are put to use in the form of planters, which can be seen everywhere from gardens to rooftops in this area. This method both reuses material that would simply clutter the landfills or sit on the side of the road unused. Also, it takes advantage of the fertile soil and moist weather Haiti experiences to grow fruits and vegetables for the community. As a somewhat affluent area, I think that West Chester could be the perfect place to do a test-run of this idea. Fresh fruits and vegetables are always appreciated, and there are always individuals who are in need of this kind of produce.