Dorish Nguyen – Urban Planning

  1. My hometown is South Bend, Indiana. It is located in Saint Joseph County on the Saint Joseph River nearest the southernmost bend (hence where the name South Bend is derived from.) South Bend has a total of about 100,000 residents and has a neighborhood I would consider as an automobile suburb. Though not a huge city, South Bend requires for a car to be able to go from place to place. My neighborhood itself does not have sidewalks and everybody has cars in order to get to work, school, or around the city. Though South Bend is most known for being home to the University of Notre Dame, I love this city for so much more. Our current mayor, Pete Buttigieg, has made so many economic development projects within the city that work towards rebuilding the community. South Bend also recently saved $100 million by tracking its sewers and installing a new water system. I grew up in South Bend my entire life and cannot imagine anywhere else I could call home.
  2. The first city from the module I am discussing is Chicago, Illinois. My hometown is just an hour and a half drive to Chicago, but they are two very different areas. The largest difference is that Chicago is pedestrian based whereas you need a car in South Bend to get around. Many places in Chicago are just within walking distance of each other and many people live within the city whereas many people in South Bend live in neighborhoods. However, South Bend and Chicago both share the same transportation system for trains. The South Shore is the interurban line between South Bend, Indiana, and Chicago. Trains are a much more effective and sustainable transportation system when there are more people to go from South Bend to Chicago. However, Chicago’s cities provide better urban agriculture that South Bend could take after. In South Bend, there are not community gardens present, however, in Chicago, they have turned community gardens into artwork and created parks to increase plant coverage and improve the air quality there.
  3. The second city I am discussing is Curitiba, Brazil. It is not even remotely close to where I live. Curitiba has the best bus system in the world. Their bus system is efficient and very easy for people to get around quickly without having to wait a long time for a bus since the uses run a minute apart during peak hours. South Bend, on the other hand, has a terrible bus system. I could not even tell you how to use the bus system or where to find a bus stop. South Bend has become so dependent on cars to get around that the city neglects those who do not own a car or are able to drive to help get around. During peak hours, South Bend streets also get very crowded. South Bend could take from Curitiba’s bus system by implementing a better bus system than the one currently. This way, pollution would be reduced since fewer cars results in less carbon emissions.