Urban Sprawl and Miles Driven Daily By Teenagers

Sorry for the whole password messing up thing...I have no idea what happened with that.

Anyways, here is the (late...)blog from last week...

Urban Sprawl and Miles Driven Daily By Teenagers in the United States

 

American Journal of Preventative Medicine, March 2008

Matthew J. Trowbridge, Noreen C. MacDonald

 

Link: http://www.sciencedirect.com.www.library.gatech.edu:2048/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VHT-4RSS76V-5&_user=655052&_coverDate=03%2F31%2F2008&_rdoc=1&_fmt=full&_orig=search&_cdi=6075&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000034078&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=655052&md5=3d6d87bc926e48e0e568bee9d2c95d49#sec3

 

This article explored the affects of teenagers driving on urban sprawl. It suggests that teens driving to and from school have a significant impact on the traffic that accompanies urban sprawl. It is believed that sprawling areas require a teen to drive, which places them in high-risk situations, as opposed to traditional neighborhoods, in which it is easier for a teen to ride their bike, walk, or use public transportation. The conclusion is that the farther a teen must drive to get to necessary places, like school, the more likely a teen is to be put into a high-risk situation, and therefore, the more likely a teen is to get involved in a wreck.

-Marie Singleton

Is Sprawl Associated with a Widening Urban–Suburban Mortality Gap?

Journal of Urban Health
Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine

Abstract by Shaun Roberts

The link

http://gtsearch.library.gatech.edu/search/metasearch/record?group=000079&resultSet=000542&startRecord=6

leads from the Georgia Tech library and goes to the next link for where the article is

http://www.springerlink.com.www.library.gatech.edu:2048/content/w72228hw6n489l77/fulltext.html

The essay disputes the difference between the mortality rate of urban areas and suburban areas. The writer compares the national average and the average of Portland. Basically what is being stated is that there is a higher risk for death and disease in suburban areas and that the gap is spreading between them because there is not a way to contain the spread of sprawl. In Portland, that difference is slowly getting smaller because they are implementing smart ways to develop the land and prevent sprawl. Other findings discovered is that sprawling areas have older citizens who also make more money while the urban areas are filled with younger citizens. The writer uses many statistics and facts to support the topic on the difference in mortality rates between portland and other urban areas, and suburbia. The development showed that not only was it more healthy to live in urban areas instead of suburbia, but also that the gap in mortality rate had greatly increased and affected a wider variety of citizens.

My neighborhood is literally within walking distance. It is called Howell Station. 

Unlike Thomas's neighborhood, Howell Station qualifies for the definition of "traditional." The streets are quiet and not continuously riddled with traffic. It is a middle class neighborhood. Although the neighborhood has little in ways of sidewalks for pedestrians, it is safe to walk around. Near Howell Station is a place called Carver's Grocery.

 Carver's Grocery is a mom-and-pop store that serves homemade lunches. The Carvers get up every morning at 4:30 to cook for these people. Also within walking distance are at least three churches. As far as safety goes, there is a formal neighborhood watch in which the residents are highly active. Besides playing at home, there is a park called Knight Park close by. 

Here is a tennis court, basketball court, and playground. The neighborhood sponsors Halloween parades, Fourth of July picnics, and Earth Day clean-ups and BBQs. The neighbors also set up biweekly playdates for the younger children. The houses are all of varying styles, ranging from Georgian cottage architecture to shotgun style buildings. It is an old and historic neighborhood, having been built in the mid 1800s to early 1900s. It is almost a little entity unto itself in the sprawl that is Atlanta. 

Myrtle Street by Shaun Roberts

Unlike with Thomas' neighborhood, I wouldn't say this one is necessarily a product of sprawl, but a mix of the traditional neighborhood and suburbia.
The neighborhood shows many signs of being a great environment. Even though the area has many houses that could be almost considered cookie cutter, the overall feel of the place is what a neighborhood should be. The area isnt defined as serious sprawl because the streets still conform to a grid like map, houses are not terribly spaced, and there is not a lack of trees.

The first thing a person would notice when walking down the street is how many trees there are. The area is overpowered by the excessive amounts of trees compared to a normal sprawl area. There are streets that are still extremely wide for a neighborhood so it may not do a good job at slowing down traffic but since trees line the street, it does give a closer feel of the area. The remaining streets are fairly narrow and force people to slow down. The second thing that is eye popping is you notice that none of the houses have any garages. All the cars are parallel parked along the street, giving it an even more narrow feel.

As you walk along the sidewalk that is on both sides of the street, you begin to notice another thing that separates the area from sprawl, the fact that there are also apartments in the same area. There seems to be no distinction in the area. Lastly the area seems to be but a ten minute walk from Ponce de Leon Ave.

Being so close to a commercial area and having a mixed density housing area not dominated by the vehicle is a perfect environment. The area seemed to flooded with people walking their pets and with friendly people when i asked about how they feel about the neighborhood.

Fairmont & Dacula

The neighborhood that I chose for my topic is Fairmont on the Park, where I have lived for about a year or so after moving from Martin's Chapel. Fairmont is right outside the city of Dacula, Georgia, which is right next to Lawrenceville and about an hour's drive northeast from Atlanta.












Even though Fairmont is a lot like the sprawl in Martin's Chapel in terms of "cookie-cutter" houses, winding roads, trees bordering neighborhood, and numerous deadend cul-de-sacs, there is a large sense of community because it is so close to Dacula. While most of the residential housing in Dacula is suburban sprawl, Dacula itself has qualities that make it feel like the center of traditional neighborhood with shops, restaurants, grocery stores, churches, schools, parks, and government buildings. Dacula is very strong on tradition and community involvement through schools and churches, so there is always something going on. Also, when you leave Fairmont there is a park bordering the neighborhood, so even though within the neighborhood the only place to play is at the pool, there is plenty of green space for everyone at the park. If there is a center of community activity and interaction within walking distance of housing then this counteracts the sprawl of the nearby neighborhoods, like Fairmont, as long as there is a low number of such neighborhoods.

Although being a product of sprawl, Fairmont met most of my criteria for a "good" neighborhood, like pedestrian-friendly sidewalks/crosswalks, safety, sense of community, and low traffic, it did lack organized streets and a central focus of community activity, but that is where Dacula makes up for it. After writing down observation notes and comparing them to the criteria, I might note that as long as there are community like Dacula, within walking distance of the residential houses, then that neighborhood could be considered as having "good" growth.


Thomas Rowe

*photo from: http://fairmont-onthepark.com/

Bloglanta

The blog that I looked at is called Bloglanta which reports news concerning local Atlanta area neighborhoods ITP (inside the perimeter) about politics, new government or city policies, and stories that might have slipped by big-time news coverage but are important to Atlanta residents.

Through his postings, the blogger, Robert, introduces an article or news topic that affects the Atlanta area neighborhood residents, such as pan handling, vagrancy, transportation problems, and water shortage, and then offers his opinion and observations and sometimes adds a solution or asks the readers for their input. In fact, Robert seems to regularly get the readers to become active by linking to surveys targeted for Atlanta residents in his blog so that they can shape their community and have a voice in city policies including transportation planning, for example. Robert has an assertive, yet informative, tone that he uses to put out his ideas and opinions about the stories he reports on that reflect the needs of the residents of the Atlanta area rather than government authorities who just want a quick fix to a problem without thinking about a long term solution, shown in his posting about the vagrancy and pan handling problems.

While most of his posts are just text, Robert does include an occasional picture but mostly relies on hyperlinks to the news articles he writes about, wikipedia for definitions of terms, websites ranging from about politicians to neighborhoods, and surveys that the reader can explore more in depth on his/her own time or participate in if he/she chooses to do so.

The main reason I think that Robert and other bloggers like him focus their blogs and postings on their community is because they can make news stories that matter to the community readily available and can provide a place for the readers to communicate and share their opinions on the stories where they would not be able to otherwise. By having this open line of communication and exchange of ideas, the purpose of these blogs, what the authors want to achieve from them, is to bring the readers and residents of the community together so they can participate in happenings within their communities and can help build a stronger community by making the Atlanta area, in this case, an overall safer and more enjoyable place to live where the people can feel like they are part of strong and growing community.

-Thomas Rowe