Urban sprawl Essay -- essays research papers

This Halloween, Sean Clancy had the most original garments in his southern Pennsylvania neighborhood. The base layer of his costume wasnt very exciting at all- a flannel shirt, jeans and boots. However, the next layer really made Clancys costume memorable. He tucked a street sign into his belt and draped a GAP bag from his left pocket. He hung a Coke can from his thigh and pinned a Sunoco plash rebate banner on his right knee. A KFC sign was just now above his left knee, and Clancys mask was a US road atlas. notwithstanding among all the goblins, ghouls, ghosts, and Lord of the Rings characters, Clancy was the scariest creature of them all. Urban Sprawl.Since the emergence of prefabricated housing in preplanned neighborhoods in the 1950s, the Pleasantville ethic has brought more than half of the spheres people to the suburbs. Yet while the suburban value system has improved the quality of our lives, it has tarnished the quality of our character. This trend of modernization was recognized by Henry David Thoreau more than a century ago, when he wrote that While society has been improving our homes, it has not improved the men who are to inhabit them. It has named palaces, but it has not been so quick to create noblemen and kings. It seems that todays kings and queens lord over backyard bar-b-qs, and ride in SUV chariots. But the purpose of this speech isnt to criticize these kings and queens. What I take routine with is the society that makes them royalty. Herein lies the problem Our society has come to idealize a destructive vision of the American way of lifeone that puts up innocence picket fences to keep out our neighbors. Rather than valuing what the suburbs used to stand forcommunity and opportunitynow we first, embrace isolation, and second endorse exclusion.Clancys roadmap Halloween mask whitethorn have been cleverbut it was probably useless. Roads connecting the suburbs to other locations spring up so fast, maps cant keep up. Many parts of the c ountry lack public transportation that would integrate our communities rather than isolate them. According to the April 28, 2002 New York Times Magazine, In most parts of the country, people now give more on transportation than on medical care, education, clothing and entertainment- combined. In Atlanta, the average person wa... ... cant change the ours in the work week or even our commute we can take the time to make time to spend with our family and friends.Getting beyond isolation is only half the solution. mayhap most importantly, we need to start considering the well-being of others as integral to our own well being. Being part of a community doesnt mean just reaping its benefits. It means accepting that one of our responsibilities is to consider the well-being of those around us. As individuals, we need to start thinking of ourselves as part of a community, and performing knowing that what we do affects those around us. Our sprawling lifestyle simply means thatlike it or no tweve enlarged our communities and increased the lives we effect with our actions. Pursue sumptuosity and the American dream, but take ownership of its impacts. For the not-so-huddled masses of suburbia, theres still something appealing about the white picket fences, the 2.2 kids, golden retrievers and even the dominating title of soccer mom. Granted, giving up the SUV may disqualify us for membership in the manly fraternity of Those Who Haul Things, but through interconnection and diversity, it will make us better neighbors.