Post Due Feb. 7

First off, being a graphic design major I found the visual element of these videos to have a huge impact on where I would locate. In my major presentation is everything so for that reason I am going to choose the Saratoga Economic Development Model. I thought their video was the best constructed and most comprehensive. Sure, I think it might have been a little... “007-cheesy” but I think that they had the most relatable video and included the most information about the community as a whole. The outside perspectives also helped their case (i.e. President Obama speaking).

I do not think I would propose any new proposal to entice people to locate their. I think they have a very strong core to begin with. They focused on really showing they have thought about the core needs before developing. “Companies that come to this area will be able to serve multiple clients from multiple areas in a region. With the incentives that were provided to the global foundry site there now a tremendous amount of systems infrastructure, which there Saratoga County clients are looking for. We’ve done a water supply, we’ve done a power supply, and these capabilities exist in other sites in the Saratoga County area.” This shows that they have really thought about the future rather than just the moment they are in. I think just in general the Saratoga County economic development model attracts a higher-level of client that would tend to have a long-lived future in the community, which creates a stable local economy.

Now, as for the HOPE IV program for Saratoga County? I think there are a lot of pros and cons that go along with this program. At first I thought “Oh no, that wouldn’t be a good idea to have that program in this county.” However, after thinking about it for a little bit I actually would propose to have a HOPE IV community in Saratoga County. After watching the video about HOPE IV I think it, firstly, gives people who wouldn’t normally have a chance an opportunity to mesh themselves into this high-tech economy in Saratoga. With technology developing so rapidly I think that this kind of business will be around for a while and create (as stated before) a stable economy in the area. Saratoga County also has a vibrant core that was mentioned in the video. I think this would be the perfect place for the HOPE IV community to be. This would allow for multiple job opportunities and easy transportation to and from work. Overall, I think having a nicely developed HOPE IV community would bring a lot more (maybe not so big) business to the area and just give people a chance to help the community grow into the future.

Post Due Jan. 24

First I would like to say that Keneth Robinson is a magnificently intelligent man on the subject of education. I have watched a few of his lectures on the subject and every time I do I just find myself saying… “That is SO right!” This is one of my other favorite lectures by him if you want to check it out (or have time).

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Anyway, back to the blog assignment.

The videos point to very abstract solutions approaching a reform of the education system, if any solutions at all. I think they approach the subject at a more factual level and present the problems rather than solve them. The idea that the education system will ever be perfect is far fetched though. In a world for everything to work “correctly” people would more than likely have to share the same view on how things should be done and quite frankly… they don’t. This flows into the subject of politics and education and how the two subjects affect each other. Politics are always a very touchy subject- one that I do not like to get into or enjoy listening to. So, to me, I think that quite often politics will just put education on their platform to become elected but once people are elected to office they, more often than not, do not address the issue fully. Now, this is not because they do not truly care about the subject, I feel as though there are many other problems that just end up taking priority. Also, another thing that I thought of while watching the video is that (now that prisons can be privatized) there is almost an incentive to not improve education.

“The state spends 33,000 dollars a year on each prisoner. Which makes the average cost of a prison term (4 years) $132,000. The average private school costs 8,300 a year. So for the same price as housing an inmate for 4 years we (the government really) could have sent a kid to private school from kindergarten through 12^th grade and still had over $24,000 leftover for college.”

-From the video

I think that the above statement has a pretty big impact on the education budget. I do not have a perfect solution for cutting the budget for state prisons and penitentiaries, however I think that something is very wrong with how much is being spent on an inmate every year versus the amount of money it takes to get a student a “quality” education in this country. Now, I am not saying that you cannot get a decent education at a public school because I went to a public school my whole life and I am confident enough to say that I was able to get a quality education. However, my mom was a teacher when I was in school and she always made sure I was in the right teacher’s class. I was also in the honors track for 80% of my classes. I think that a lot has to change before we can fix the education system. Family life would have to be monitored to ensure kids are being taken care of properly and have a nurturing environment to flourish in, in order to do that we would have to make sure that every pregnancy was a wanted pregnancy or that people could afford to take care of a kid, you see? There are many other issues that would need to be fixed before education. Just because we would add back arts to education, give them more money to improve facilities, get rid of standardized testing, or separate kids by their intellectual ability rather than age does not mean that the schools are going to improve. Those fixes are not enough to change how people approach education or the stigma that comes along with public education. 

Post Due Jan. 17

The class has definitely started giving me an insight as to how communities (mostly cities) function and how the people inside the cities interact with other city dwellers and even the suburbanites. For this blog entry I am going to take on the perspective of a supermarket to discuss the influence of location on a business. Just for some perspective I am going to think of “my” supermarket as an independently owned and operated grocery store/general store not affected by surrounding competition.

I picked a supermarket because I think it has a very dynamic set of clients and a diverse set of needs that it has to fulfill. As a necessity in almost every single person’s life the supermarket is quite often a stop on the way home from work to do grocery shopping for the week, a quick trip for a kid after school to get a snack, and even a place for someone to wander if they just need some place dry or cool to walk around for a bit.

The concentric zone model discussed in class had 5 specific areas, or “zones,” that any given city is made up of (generally). I have made an illustration to show these zones.



According to this model I think its is important that the location be accessible to many people without being located in the heart of the city’s core where traffic tends to be thicker and more congested. If I were to locate in the heart of the city I think that I would exclude a lot of people in zone 4 that maybe do not work of do not commute to the city very often. Therefore, according to this model, I think the ideal place to locate would be in zone 3 with the “skilled workers” toward zone 4 with the “higher-end housing.” I think as a one-store operation this would generate the most revenue. I do not see an advantage of being closer to zone 2 due to safety issues. I would probably gear my store more toward the working-class families.

In our “Urban Experience” reading by Bluestone, Stevenson, and Williams there were 5 economic concepts for underlying urban growth discussed. They were as follows:

1-    Trade and transportation

2-    Agglomeration economies

3-    Internal economies of scale

4-    Consumer markets

5-    Technological progress

I found these important to how I decided where to develop because they would all play an important role in how my grocery store integrated into the existing community (assuming I was building in an already-developed area). I would be relying a lot on the people who lived outside of the city and commuted to their job. Because of my location I would get a lot of people doing after-work shopping and possibly people who do not work during the day and who would do afternoon grocery shopping. I would also be reliant upon city transportation for people who do not live within walking distance- key factors in deciding where to locate. As I mentioned earlier I am assuming that I have no competition so I did not think that agglomeration had much influence on my decision. If I were the only supermarket I would be able to allow for shipments to come in from many different places without worrying about my competitors spending less on their shipping costs. The central place theory in the reading (under the “Internal Economies of Scale” section) supports my decision to locate in zone three because I am not dependant on a large population of people like the libraries, museums, and sports stadiums are. My superstore would be more of a necessity than an optional commodity. I did not see anything relevant to my location in the “Consumer Market” section. The last section about technological progress mainly discusses how some crafts and trades can be done out of a home environment but when I need for technology increases the need for space generally increases as well thus supporting my decision to locate in zone three where there is generally more space than in the consolidated city core.

This class has really opened up my mind to issues that I was not previously aware of. I am excited to learn the next lesson and apply it to the cities that I encounter in my life.

Post Due Jan. 10

The first class was... fun? Well at least it was interesting! As I mentioned in the first post I am a design major with zero background about anything related to this class. I want to get the Creative City certificate which requires this class. Now- back to the fun stuff. The first reading I did (Urban Policy Reconsidered) actually kept me awake unlike many that I have read for previous classes. It got a little wordy for me near the end when they discussed autonomy (which I am still sort of unclear on-- good comment possibility... just sayin'). I did however, grasp the idea of communitarianism and individualism pretty well. More than the others at least. The in-class discussions on this were entertaining and helpful. I think everybody has individualistic tendencies. I think it is human nature to put yourself before others but this doesn't change the fact that people also value helping others and investing in the community. Both sides of the discussion in class had valid points though. I think the class will remain interesting as long as people keep voicing their opinions and I keep learning about what urban policy is. Anyway. Overall I am excited to get out of the design school and learn about some new things and I think this class will be very informative and interesting.

I Also Love Teal (and title my posts last).

So. I know everybody is just DYING to read these and, therefore, will be reading every word I post. Lets start from the beginning. I was born in northern California, when I was five I moved to northern Arizona with my parents, yada yada yada, now I am in Tempe. Perfect. Now that that’s over… I am a Junior and I am in the Visual Communication (more simply- Graphic Design) Major on the Tempe campus and, well… that’s my life basically. I work at a print shop, have some good friends, and love Oregano’s, sushi, and frozen yogurt. Told you this was going to be exciting!