Urban Environment

Field Report: Healthscape

2006-04-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

The healthscape of the Torresdale neighborhood of Philadelphia appears to be fair, unless you are confined to a wheel chair. There are a number of supermarkets that are accessible via public transportation. The main problem with the local supermarkets, however, becomes apparent if you depend on a wheel chair. About five years ago many of the supermakets gated off the entrance ways to prevent the theft of shopping carts. There is a ramp and the gate blocking the ramp is locked. If you are in a wheel chair and wish to gain access to the supermarket you must have an employee open the gate for you. If there was an employee outside at all times to moniter the situation, it might not be a problem. As is currently stands however, you must have someone with you to go into the store, find an employee, and have the employee open the gate. While this method is effective in preventing shopping cart theft, it is not easily accessible for physically handicaped people.
Another establishment that does not provide accessibility for a person in a wheel chair is the Torresdale Regional Rail station stop. The platform is not equipped with a ramp, which must make it impossible for someone to board the train if he or she is in a wheel chair.
Aside from wheel chair accessibility, the remaining healthscape is fairly decent. There are busses available that make stops at cheap supermarkets. There is also a small park where people can run and play sports.

Field Report: Gentrification

2006-04-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

The houses in the top two pictures are located near the corner of Frankford and Linden Avenues, directly across the street from the abandoned shopping center and abandoned gas station, about 0.5 mile south of Holy Family University. The bottom two pictures are located about 0.5 mile east of this corner. These newly built homes are selling for over twice as much as most of the surrounding houses are worth.

all photos taken by Jen Drobish

Field Report: Industry

2006-04-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

Above are pictures of two different partially abandoned shopping centers in Torresdale. The top three pictures are of one shopping center located at the corner of Frankford and Linden Avenues, approximately 0.5 mile south of Holy Family University. Five years ago this shopping center was thriving. There was a Drug Emporium, a video rental store, pizza shop, dollar store, hair dresser, shoe store, gas station and the parking lot was always crowded. When Drug Emporium went out of business there was a domino effect. The dollar store and the video store were next to go out of business, followed by the pizza shop, and most recently the gas station. All that remains is the hair dresser and the shoe store.
The bottom two pictures are of another partially abandoned shopping center located approximately .25 mile north of Holy Family University. This shopping center was home to two supermarkets at different times which have gone out of business. There have also been several "mom and pop" type stores in the center, but as in the case with the Drug Emporium, as the major store left the smaller stores ultimatly leave as well. There are now demolition signs in front of a few abandoned stores which leads me to believe that they will be renovated.
Due to the close proximaty to the expanding university, it seems like a great opportunity for development geared towards the college students.

all pictures taken by Jen Drobish

Definitions

2006-03-01T08:24:00.000-08:00

Horse Drawn Carriage Blog
1. Urban environment: the downtown/center city region including any parks or less congested areas within.
2. Spooking the horse: this can happen for no apparent reason, especially in an urban environment. The sound of a car horn, people yelling, trucks can cause a horse to run into traffic and potentially get hurt or hurt someone else.
3. Lame: diminished health due to the hard work of pulling a carriage. The life expectancy of these horses is approximately ten years less than a horse that doesn't pull carriages.
4. Poorly treated: many of the horses are ungroomed and underfed, and have preexisting injuries which are aggrivated by towing over 700 pounds, the average weight of the carriage and passengers.

Community Map Blog
1. Community: residents living in the few blocks located on my map. This community is not very organzed, and many people only know or speak to their immediate neighbor.
2. Shopping Center: this shopping center, aside from providing many conveniences, was also a meeting ground for many of the younger members of the community. The stores included a drug store, a video rental store, pizza restaurant, and a Hair Cuttery. At one time it was bustling on Friday nights, but with the loss of the drug store, the smaller business began to fail.
3. Corner bar: similar to a corner store, it is generally only frequented by local residents. People across the street or around the corner come here because it is close and their fellow patrons are often all friends.
4. Impact: generally referring to an impact similar to that of Temple's main campus community. Stores, restaurants, and entertainment appear to be expanding around Temple's immediate area, and I wonder if a similar effect will happen around Holy Family University and it's surrounding area.

Urban Juxtaposition Blog
1. Abandoned lot: this lot was once home to a thriving drug store, a pizza restaurant, dollar store, video store, and gas station. One after the other went out of business, leaving two stores remaining open in the center. The closed portions are starting to decay.
2.twice the amount: the homes immediately surrounded the brand new homes sell for $150,000 to $200,000. The new homes range from $300,000 to $400,000.
3. juxtaposition: the new homes appear out of place because they stand much higher than the surrounding homes. It almost looks like a block of row homes was broken apart to put a single home in the middle.
4. aesthetically: the front yards of these homes are beautifully landscaped, while the other homes don't even have a front yard.

Environmental Ethical Dilemma Blog
1. Point source polluter: point source polluntants come from a specific, identifiable source.
2. Debeaked: a hot blade knife is used to cut through the horn, bone, and a thin layer of highly sensitive soft tissue causing extreme pain.
3. Battery cages: a wire cage approximately 16 inches wide, typically containing four hens. They are stacked on top of each other and in rows in warehouses.
4. Ethical: means of consuming products in which animals are not treated in a cruel manner and the environment isn't severly depleated.

Community Description Blog
1. Neighborhood: residents of the local houses and apartments using the same resources such as supermarkets, park, and school.
2. university status: reflection of higher educational status which can ultimately be beneficial for students in the job market
3. landscape: the physical appearance of the area

Community Description

2006-02-20T08:10:00.000-08:00

The area of focus of my field reports is Northeast Philadelphia, specifically the Torresdale neighborhood. This neighborhood has been undergoing a great deal of change in the past five years. Businesses are continuously leaving as huge new homes are being built. Perhaps the biggest change has been the change in status of Holy Family, from a college to a university. As Holy Family University continues to grow it will be interesting to see the impact it could have on the surrounding area. There are numerous empty lots within a one mile radius of the school which could enable the school to branch out. These empty lots could also be developed into stores geared toward college kids. As I look at Temple University's main campus and all of the development around the school I can't help but wonder what the future holds for the Torresdale area.
This community is of interest because it has gone from a fairly segregated white middle class neighborhood to a unique and diverse community in a short period of time. This change is a positive one for the neighborhood as it displays the brotherhood in the city of neighborhoods, the "city of brotherly love."
The landscape in this community is constantly changing. As a shopping center becomes abandoned, new houses appear. Another business closes and a new building is erected at the local university. It will be interesting to see what direction these changes take on the local landscape. Whether the changes will be to welcome the university students, more families, or businesses.

map taken from maps.google.com

Environmental Ethical Dilemma

2006-02-18T07:46:00.000-08:00

Factory farming, otherwise known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), is the leading source of production for animal products such as beef, veal, poultry, eggs, pork, dairy, and fish. Factory farms are also the source of a vast amount of carbon dioxide emmisions, ammonia, methane, and many other air pollutants and have been identified as a point source polluter of groundwater. CAFOs are in operation because they are seen as an efficient way of maximizing the production of meat products despite their environmental impacts. In addition to the negative environmental impacts, CAFOs are also cruel to the animals.
The waste produced by farm animals is 130 times the waste contributed by humans. The animal waste is typically stored in clay basins, which often times crack or overflow. When these holding basins leak, the waste ends up in our rivers and streams not only contaminating our drinking water, but also the fish who inhabit the waterway.
Factory farming is a cruel means of producing meat products. The chickens, for example, are debeaked to prevent them from pecking each other. This would not be an issue if the chickens weren't as confined as they are. The battery cages, in which they are kept, are not even wide enough for a chicken to spread its wings. The animals raised of factory farms are confined to the point that they can not even turn around or lay down comfortably. According to GoVeg.com, "They won't even feel the sun on their backs or breathe fresh air until the day they are loaded onto trucks bound for slaughter."
There are ethical alternatives to consuming animals that have been produced by factory farms. One alternative is to become vegan. Vegans do not consume or wear any kind of animal products. Some people find this lifestyle extreme and unhealthy, claiming that you can not obtain all of the protein that your body needs without eating meat. That is not true. First, we do not need as much protein as is commonly believed, and secondly, there are many protein sources in a vegan diet such as soy products, whole grains, broccoli, and nuts. Another alternative to factory farmed products is choosing organic products. Organic foods are produced using sustainable means leaving little impact on the environment. Organic foods are healthier for the consumers and the animals.

Above picture was taken from here
Please visit this site for additional information on factory farming

Urban Juxtaposition

2006-02-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

Above is a picture of a recently built house and an apartment complex. These huge, brand new homes have been popping up all over the Torresdale neighborhood. This one seems especially out of place as it sits between a fairly run down apartment complex on one side, and much smaller, older twins on the other. Directly across the street from these new homes is a partially abadoned lot. These new homes are selling for at least twice the amount of the surrounding homes, yet they probably have one of the worst views in the neighborhood.
The location of these homes is why they seem to be a juxtaposition. They are located on a busy street which leads to an on-ramp to Interstate 95. There is a constant flow of traffic, the streets are never silent. Across the street is an abandoned lot which provides an eye sore of a view. Directly behind the homes is a German club which has frequent festivals, especially during the summer. These festivals are often loud with live German bands playing late into the night. The new homes are aesthetically such an extreme contrast. They are surrounded by older smaller homes, and are located about a quarter of a mile north of a housing project and other subsidized housing.
The newer, more expensive homes make me wonder about the future of the community. With more tax money and more people coming into the community maybe business will start to come back to the area. Maybe the abandoned lot will provide an opportunity for redevelopment, ultimately revitalizing the community.

above picture taken by Jennifer Drobish

Community Map

2006-01-30T16:36:00.000-08:00

This is a basic layout of my community. The difference in the housing across the street from the abandoned shopping center is one of the most interesting aspects of my neighborhood. Recently new houses have been popping up in my neighborhood in seemingly inappropriate places. About three years ago the housing across the street from the lot, which wasn't as desolate as it is now, ranged from run down apartments to average, single level twin homes. As business started to leave the once busy shopping center, brand new houses appeared in between the apartments and twin homes. These new houses are at least three times the size of the average local home, with stone fronts as opposed to the shingles and brick fronts of the older homes. These new, seemingly out of place homes are the newest trend in my neighborhood. Within the past six years these houses, which are all very similar in style, have popped up in three areas of my neighborhood, but these are by far the most out of place.
Another interesting aspect of my community is the decline in business. Holy Family University is approximately 1.5 miles north of this interesection and easliy accessable by public transportation, foot, or bike. Since Holy Family aquired the status of a university, opposed to the college status of two years ago, there has been a lot of buzz about new projects and stores for the area, but that remains to be seen. More and more businesses are leaving and the few that remain are fast food restaurants, convienience stores and a bar. The closest bar to Holy Family University was once regarded as a corner bar and generally frequented by older men who have been patrons for years. In the past two years this bar must have realized the possible gold mine it could be and started to advertise Wednesday night as "College Night." Now Wednesday nights offer a DJ and dollar drafts and often times fill the bar more than a Friday night can. The word is spreading and more and more often the once "corner bar" is more often frequented by a much younger crowd, typically Holy Family and other college students. It will be intersting to see how or if the continuously growing university will have an impact on the community aside from that on the local bar.

Horse Drawn Carriage Accidents

2006-01-29T15:35:00.000-08:00

To the right is a picture of the horrific horse carriage accident that occurred in New York City in the beginning of January this year. As a result of this accident, the driver of the carriage was in critical condition and the horse, who broke a leg, was euthanized. This whole scene could have easily been avoided by simply banning the use of horse drawn carriages in urban environments. A horse should not be forced to share the same road as a car or truck. The noise from traffic, the hustle and bustle of the city, is enough to spook a horse which can be a potentially deadly situation. In addition to the risk of spooking the horse, the horse is forced to breathe in exhaust from cars all day. The nose of the horse is about 3.5 feet off of the ground. These horses have the lungs of smokers because they are forced to lead a "nose to tailpipe existence."
The horses who are used to tow carriages have a much shorter life expectancy than horses who are not forced to work in extreme environments. The life expectancy of a carriage horse is approximately 4 years, while the life expectancy of a horse is about 14 years. The horses become lame much quicker due to the grueling work and the extreme temperatures in which they are forced to work in. They typically work nine hours a day, seven days a week in these extreme conditions. These horses are poorly treated and are often kept in dirty and dangerous stables.
The use of horse drawn carriages should be banned. Not only is it dangerous for the horse, it's also dangerous for the people sharing the road, the driver of the carriage, and the passengers. The fact is, this is not an isolated event. There are at least three horse drawn carriage accidents each year. Click here to view a partial list of horse drawn carriage accidents in the past ten years.