Hello fellow classmates,
My name is Luis Martinez but I go by Louie, and this is my first blog EVER! I am pursuing my bachelors in biological science as well as a minor is sustainability. With this degree I plan on applying to medical school and pursuing a career as a orthopedic surgeon!
A little about myself; I am 25 and a junior here at ASU. I am a Arizona native, I was born in Tucson and lived there for most of my life. I moved here from Tucson in may of 2011 when I transferred to ASU. I work in a emergency room in Scottsdale as an EMT/ER Tech. I have worked in hospitals for 4 years now. Initially I was planning on attending nursing school but realized I wanted to do more.
Jan. 10 2012 blog
I decided to take this class because it satisfied my major and I enjoy urban areas of cities, from architecture to the activities they offer. Everything about urban areas of cities I enjoy. I am currently looking for a home in the downtown central area because I want to be in the heart of it all. I am extremely interested in the gentrification of urban areas that may have been overlooked because of the appearance or it's crime rate. From first lecture I appreciated the diversity of everyone's opinions on different policy subjects. One thing that resonated for me in lecture was a city hollowing out. In my opinion that could be one of the worst things that could happen. An urban area of the city is where it began. There is history in the buildings, homes and people who still live in those areas. When reading "Urban Policy Reconsidered", the subject of metropolitan revitalization came up and how urban policies can be developed to help keep people it the city. An example was education, the attraction of good schools attract individuals to the suburbs, but if urban public schooling was comparable or better that would keep the urban areas populated. As I said before, home development is another way of attracting people to urban areas. Not new developments, but the gentrification of those areas can increase the retention of residents. Policies can be developed to help in those goals.
Hello luis,
ReplyDeleteI honestly like Phoenix way better then Tucson. I think Tucson is a rather "boring" city. I think its so cool that you work in a hospital. Ive always wanted to to work in one. Anyways, I agree with your statement above. Families with children look at the schools around them before anything. Depending on how the school looks they make the choice of either relocating or making the decsion to move there.
I realize you may not read or reply to this, but I would like to hear more about your support of gentrification - especially in the Phoenix area. If property values in the areas being gentrified increase to a point where poor and working class people who live there can no longer afford rent, then gentrification serves as a tool for displacing these people rather than retaining residents. Maybe the question is, who are the residents that you are interested in retaining?
ReplyDeleteHey Jesse thanks for the reply. Of course with gentrification comes increased home value and raised rent, that in its self, is gentrification. In order for these areas to be successful the community needs to be "cleaned" up in a sense. People avoid living in urban areas because they are older areas that are not as safe as newer areas and sometimes provide poor public education. Of course this process could push out the people that cannot afford the adjusted home values and rent but it attracts people that are willing to spend the money. Increased home values provide for more tax money, meaning schools can get more funding as well as public transportation. The money can also provide for more government housing that is now available in the suburbs and also urban areas. It can bring in businesses that would normally avoid these areas. I feel like it has more pros than cons.
DeleteI agree with you there should be newer homes around the downtown area, because once you start leaving the big buildings all you see is the old houses from the 1950s.
ReplyDeleteBrian, it is the older homes I like more rather than new developments. I'm not much for the "cookie cutter" home, I would much rather have homes from the 1950 that keep their old facade but remodel the insides.
DeleteOf course there is nothing wrong with the older homes as they are seen as historic. Let's not forget the magic of re-development though! In recent years, the west coast especially has seen renewed interest and widespread revitalization efforts in downtown cores. We know Phoenix is especially pushing for this; all of the open land around the core. Luis and Jesse, these homes are great to keep for both reasons aesthetic and economic, adding character to a neighborhood as well as diversity.
ReplyDelete