Nostalgia intertwined with dismissive distaste

     Sharing similarities with the neighborhood described in the first post, Centennial Place is, as it pains me to say, another definition of sprawl. Upon arriving upon another new home at age seven, I was engulfed with waves of rushing excitement and childish curiosity. What made this house different from previous addresses was the simple fact that it was not an apartment. As a child, I had not considered whether how similar looking my house was compared to the next or whether how many trees were quickly leveled in order for my neighborhood to be built. Yet thinking back, I still emotionally praise the area as lovely and welcoming, while logically I realize in reality how hollow and shallow the entire vicinity was. Out of the three cities introduced in Blueprint America, Denver shares the most characteristics with Centennial.
     It is quite strange watching a simple video could have changed my opinion of “sprawl” neighborhoods. What I once identified as feelings of comfort have morphed into channels of abhorrence towards such residential sites. Out of these three cities: Denver, Portland, and New York City, I certainly find New York City the most attractive. Simply the fact that NYC possesses a huge community and the most diversity adds an incredible amount of appeal. The city is an epicenter for new ideas and experiments, and such a characteristic combined with the wise attitude of NYC to improve its ways only further boasts its enticing value.
     My childhood suburban home did little to contradict the claims of Blueprint America. Many repetitive patterns existed back where I lived akin to the depiction of the sprawl city. Single family homes shared one of 3 housing styles, and a recurring loop of small road, lawn grass, and new house covered the terrain. It was a new neighborhood, with new houses constantly being built around ones that had unfinished basements. The entire place became a huge residential space as my neighborhood combined with two other older but still new suburbs. As a result, no one had to decide on what type of transportation. The most accessible, common, and devastation choice was the automobile, and this caused traffic to grow exponentially worse over the years. Despite having suffered through horrible traffic, the residents did not change their habits, with their middle class tendencies holding grip over their logic and foresight. Homeowners were mostly young, white families earning middle class incomes – continuing the sprawl stereotype of earlier decades. The descriptions of sprawl in the documentary fit perfectly with the place I spent my childhood in. The multiple streets of house copies, the timeless traffic, and the detached attitudes of the locals all further usher feelings of apathy towards Centennial Place.

Blueprint America: Road to the Future

-Jaron Gao

GROWING UP IN THE HEART OF CHENNAI

I would like to take this opportunity to give you a short insight on the surroundings I grew up in. I was born in a beautiful city called Chennai. For those that may not have heard of it, Chennai is an upcoming city located in the southern part of India. It currently boasts of the highest economical growth in India. Chennai being a coastal city its description would be incomplete without a mention of the white sandy beaches. In Chennai my family owned a house in the heart of the city in a street called alwarpet.

My neighbourhood( cant actually call it that!) was more of a mixture of traditional and suburban. This is because there was no cull-De-sac, similar looking houses or apartments in the city. It was more like houses, apartments, malls etc randomly in the city. On my road there were malls, apartments and residential houses . So to actually compare my neighbourhood to the ones depicted in Suburban nation is not possible.

In Chennai it is very necessary to own a car or else you are screwed because the public transportation is pretty sad and the taxis charge rip-off prices. But if you have the patience and stamina to walk in 100 degrees farenheit, everything is close by. Apart from all this the people are very friendly and helpful. You can find kids playing cricket or soccer everyday in the evening.

It would not be wrong by concluding that the neighbourhood in which I grew up is highly unique both in its geographical structure as well as nature of the people residing within it.


-Abhi

Ch. 2 & 3: Suburban Nation/Assign 26-28

Hey guys...well the first house my family ever moved in to was and is mostly likely the definition of sprawl. I grew up in a neighborhood called the Cottages of Chicopee. It was a very small neighborhood of about 11 houses; fairly new neighborhood about 5 years old. Just in that statement you may assume that nieghbors were close because the neighboorhood was so small. Well that's not the case. The neighborhood was closed off from the outside by trees. And to be honest..the whole neighborhood was a cul-de-sac. There was no oulet and all road. Since when did cul-de-sacs become a beautiful scenery. Though the houses did look different, the basic concept of the way the houses were built were similar. There was nothing unique (maybe besides color) about the houses. That just screams (SPRAWL)!

 The neighborhood was located relatively distant from some stores and the school. Let be put it this way.. if you didn't have a car..you're screwed. Though my small neighborhood leaned mostly to the sprawl side, it wasn't all that bad. Yes..i know we still had to burn gas just to buy a few grocries, but our neighborhood did give us a sense of privacy and protection. It even states in Suburban Nation that one good thing that comes out of sprawl is the sense of privacy one gains from it, but on the flip side when one gets on the road..all that personal space is gone and one is now sitting in traffic. 

Now the neighborhood was an ok one. My family is the only black family to live in that neighborhood. It's funny because surrounding the neighborhood are apartments where mostly minorities live. You can tell a status or class distinction is evident. That's one thing sprawl tends to do. It separates social class. Is that a good thing..some think so. I think it's absolutely bogus.