Community Analysis : South Philadelphia

In Streetwise, Elijah Anderson (1990) discusses the social forces at work in an urban area he calls the Village-Northton. His is a sociological field study of the daily interactions between the residents of an area encompassing two communities--in his words, "one black and low income to very poor (with an extremely high infant mortality rate), [and] the other racially mixed but becoming increasingly middle to upper income and white" (Anderson, 1990, p. ix). In keeping with valid sociological fieldwork, Anderson (1990) immersed himself in the community from the summer of 1975 through the summer of 1989.

South Street Philadelphia’s sidewalk’s safety is not determined by the strangers shuffling in and out of the area, but instead by the local residents and community members who live there. Based on my personal observations, the biggest asset to South Street in regard to safety and overall quality of the area are the locals who reside there. This idea of community investment relating to the safety of a street is presented in Jane Jacob’s novel The Death and Life of Great American Cities and is one of her ideas that is accurately displayed throughout South Street. By examining the various ways people interact in different areas and shops on South Street, I was able to evaluate what aspects of her writing proved to be beneficial to the overall safety of the area.

A neighborhood that was once Irish, Jewish, Greek and African American has drastically changed throughout the years (Snyder, 2015). While New York is viewed as the cultural center, this area of Manhattan is now often referred to as “little Dominican Republic” as Dominicans immigrated to Washington Heights in the 1960s. After the end of Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship, many Dominican families fled to the United States to escape civil unrest and political violence (Pantoja, 2005). Today, the largest population of Dominican born and descendants of Dominican Republic in the borough of Manhattan are living in Washington Heights. There is also a growing Ecuadorian, Mexican and Puerto Rican population in the neighborhood (Bleiwas & DiNapoli, 2015). These cultures are prominent within the streets of the Heights as there are a multitude of Latin cuisines, churches, botanicals and pharmacies that cater to Latin families. As the neighborhood shifted through the 60s and 80s, it seems to be undergoing a new

According to The NYC Department of City Planning, “New York has the highest population density of any major city in the United States, with over 27,000 people per square mile.” 1 As the city with the highest population in the United States, NYC functions different structurally then many other cities in the United States. The functionality of such a highly populated city can be studied through individuals and how factors such as human habitation and social interactions facilitate economic aspects and create the social identities of NYC residents. As we study further into these factors we will uncover the various benefits and consequences that are confronted and ultimately lead to the social identity individuals of this city form.

New York City’s population is a little over 8.3 million people. 8.3 million people are spread out among five boroughs and each have their own set routine. Each one of those 8.3 million see New York in a different way becuase “You start building your private New York the first time you lay eyes on it” (“City Limits” 4). Some people are like Colson Whitehead who “was born here and thus ruined for anywhere else” (“City Limits” 3). Others may have “moved here a couple years ago for a job. Maybe [they] came here for school” (“City Limits” 3). Different reasons have brought these people together. They are grouped as New Yorkers, but many times, living in New York is their only bond. With on going changes and never ending commotion, it is hard to

The main culturally and linguistically division (CALD) communities that are represented in Blacktown includes; country of Birth and religion. It is evidential that within each of these sub topics that the community of Blacktown is very diverse and therefore, have a higher rate of differentiation.

A major influence on health in a community is the availability of services and opportunities within the neighborhood. Public health can be further influenced by the social environments. Accessibility to health care along with education and employment opportunities are fundamental factors to be considered (Riegelman & Kirkwood, 2015). These elements create both advantages and disadvantages for those living within the neighborhood. If we want to improve public health outcomes, we must consider and evaluate these along with many other contributing factors.

Naperville, Wheaton and Spring Lake are suburbs. The population and population per square mile demographically show that these communities are suburbs. The websites of each of these areas also show that these communities are all suburbs. They are all very similar with a few differences. They pride themselves on safety and family oriented aspects. Each community has highly ranked schools, parks, and countless family events. The majority of the population in each town is white. Wheaton and Naperville both talk about how their communities offer a “small town” feel with easy access to the comforts of chicago. Spring Lake also says that they are a “small and friendly community” located close to Grand Rapids. Each of the towns seem to boast about

Vadnais Heights, Minnesota is a city located near the center of Ramsey County. With a population of over 12,000, Vadnais Heights is just 25 minutes east of Minneapolis. This city started as just a small lakeside community of three families. It is now a thriving suburb, with convenient access to larger suburbs and the Twin Cities.

This paper is an assessment of the city of Reading, Pennsylvania. It will describe the city with a focus on the population, economic situation, culture, neighborhood and safety factors. It will also look at what the city has in place in case of a disaster. From this data, I will interpret the overall status of the community and formulate a logical community diagnosis.

For the purpose of this paper, the community being analyzed will involve the population that lives within the boundaries of the Nutley, New Jersey. Nutley, a township within Essex County, New Jersey, is home to a dense population of individuals within its small borders. It meets the criteria of a community due to the fact that the individuals share some mutual characteristics (Kirst-Ashman, 2011). Nutley is a residential neighborhood that consists of 11,301 households. Nutley, New Jersey is also a geographical community, where individuals share the common variable of location (Kirst-Ashman, 2011). Subsequently, Nutley contains one high school, one middle school, and five elementary schools (Nutley, New Jersey, 2016). Within the 3.428 square miles that Nutley is comprised of, there are 10 public parks where residents are welcomed to play soccer, basketball, lacrosse, and baseball among other sports.

As I explored North Park, an aspect that caught my attention was how it is a small community. A community where everyone has opportunities and can pursue their dreams, As a full Diploma Student, I value my work much and I am held accountable for being honest. As the older sister of three younger siblings, I am responsible for making sure they read and do their homework, As well as pick up my sister from soccer practice. I am involved in many clubs and have been involved in sports. As I explored North Park, these values stand out. I see it as a place where I can continue being part of all these tasks. I could learn from others and keep growing. Aside from it being a place where I can study Mathematics and Sociology, it is the place where

In Jane Jacobs’s acclaimed The Life and Death of Great American Cities, she intricately articulates urban blight and the ills of metropolitan society by addressing several binaries throughout the course of the text. One of the more culturally significant binaries that Jacobs relies on in her narrative is the effectively paradoxical relationship between diversity and homogeneity in urban environments at the time. In particular, beginning in Chapter 12 throughout Chapter 13, Jacobs is concerned greatly with debunking widely held misconceptions about urban diversity.

The dominant group sets out to create their ideal world, which also forces one to understand community as the “imagined world” of the powerful, how it was created, “and how it changed over time” (269). That leads one to see “the study of community as a socio-cultural process” of creation and interaction (267). Consequently, the social interaction between the powerful group and the weaker ones becomes just as important as the interaction within the dominant group. In this definition of community, Los Angeles becomes a case study for the creation of urban communities in the United States, a study that starts with the Anglo immigration near the turn of the 20th century.

In the year 1837, a small trio of Quakers traded with the Delaware Indians to acquire fourteen lots of land in the midst of a thick wilderness. These lots, while initially recognized solely as an optimal fur trading point, would one day becoming the shining city of Carmel, Indiana. From its humble beginnings, the city of Carmel has transformed into a bustling community of approximately 91,000 people and is a holder of a number of prestigious awards and recognitions. With all of these high-brow achievements, Carmel has earned the reputation of being a community for the ridiculously rich and overly fussy archetypes. The truth of the matter, though, is that the community’s values run much deeper than that. There is a reason that Carmel was