Mortality Gaps and Suburban Sprawl

Well this week I read an article from the library called "Is Sprawl Associated with a Widening Urban-Suburban Mortality Gap?" which, as the title suggests, presents the interesting finding that there is a mortality gap between suburban areas and thier urban neighbors with the severity of it de. The article said that urban areas have been found to have higher mortality rates than suburban areas nearby. It also suggested that this was likely caused by a greater exposure to environmental pollutions, social stress, infections, violence, and accidents. The author then revealed the fact that Portland, with its crackdown on sprawl, has reduced its overall mortality rates. This suggests that the efforts of Portland (and other anti-sprawl efforts) can have a beneficial effect on health as opposed to modern sprawl with its overall worse pollution. The article, in general, gives another reason why sprawl is bad.
-Evan

Like Little Five Points, Cabbagetown is yet another unique town Atlanta has to offer. I have recently read an article about thanks to Ms. Brown and the library. Here's a summary:

Jane Jacobs thought a characteristic of the perfect neighborhood was having a cohesive identity, but also was "porous at its borders and could be known from its sidewalks." Cabbagetown houses immigrant families which stops the community from being a prestigious gated community. It used to be an "Irish workers' slum," but families have begun to move in and change the dynamic. However, many storefronts are still bare due to the economy so the streets are a bit dismal. Adding to that is the litter decorating the ground and the numerous homeless people begging for something to eat. The article says, however, that the town is beginning to see the bright side and may become a more enjoyable place to live.

~Kelly

Unlike Zac's experience with Atlantic Station, I found Little Five Points to be an area where it would not be the ideal place for a person to live - especially college students. Unlike Atlantic Station, the homes there do not seem to range in price, there are not (if any) many security guards walking around, it is not the cleanest neighborhood to be seen including its parks. Inman Park should be a place where kids are able to have fun and be safe; it is not. Being next to the MARTA station makes it less safe, and even more, there seem to be bad things happening in this park that parents would not approve of for their kids to be in proximity to. Also unlike Atlantic Station, parking seems to be a hassle. There is no underground parking, only parallel. It is hard to find parking within a close distance to the center of town. It is a fun place to visit if you're looking for diversity, however. The people you will meet, the storefronts you will see, and bushes you will walk into on the sidewalk make Little Five Points an interesting and unique place to visit.

Until next time,

Kelly

Atlantic Station

Evan, Virginia Highlands sounds like a very interesting neighborhood. Is it walking distance from Tech? Well the neighborhood for my evaluation is Atlantic Station. I originally picked it because it was very close and I could just ride my bike there. But after visiting and making my observations I feel as it's a perfect place to live for college students. With apartments ranging from prices, they can fit the budget of any college student. It is connected by MARTA, bike lanes, and 85. The crime rates are almost 0 there as security guards are constantly on duty. The town is very clean and unpolluted. It brings the suburban aspect alive with its mid-town picnic/grass area and almost accessible to everyone with a giant parking garage under the whole town.
Later,
Zac

My Neighborhood

The neighborhood in which I made my observations is Virginia Highland. I chose this neighborhood mainly because it is the one in which I my sister is living so it is very convenient to make my observations while visiting her. I would describe it is a quaint little (I probably shouldn't call it little) neighborhood with many large trees and old houses. There are also several little businesses at some of the traffic light intersections which contain restuarants and various stores. After visiting this neighborhood I can't think of any changes that I may make to my criteria.
-Evan

Atlanta Blog: Eat Buford Highway

I chose to write about the Atlanta blog "EatBufordHighway." The blog is basically a series of postings chronicling the writer's eating experiences in Atlanta (I am not sure if all of the resturaunts are along Buford Highway). From the postings I can't quite tell why the writer feels compelled to write on the topic of resturaunts, but it most likely is to show people many different places that they might like to eat at. There is also the chance that this person just likes to eat and writing thier blog gives them a chance and a reason to search out new places to eat. The blogger documents the food they eat pretty well with delicious looking pictures and usually a small little description of the place and the particular dish they ate underneath. As a result, the postings form a advertisement for the resturaunt which is probably a secondary reason for the blog: to help small resturaunts get more buisness. Overall, after reading through some of the posts, I wanted to eat some of the food in the pictures.

-Evan Lohrey

(yummy)

As the last person has started, I have also read a blog about Atlanta.  It, too, has incorporated pictures so as to gain emotional appeal from its readers. However, the blog I read was not Atlanta's beltline, but instead about cheap food in Atlanta.  This was good for me to read because I'm not from Atlanta and am wanting to know where the good, inexpensive food is.  "The Blissful Glutton" mentioned such places as Little Cuba (one of the amazing Cuban places in Atlanta) that is a big asset to the city due to the destruction of Havana in the pat year.  It also promotes KFC's new sandwich.  This breadless sandwich is not available here yet because it is in its testing  stages.  It is a sandwich that uses fried chicken instead of bread with cheese, bacon, and Colonel's sauce on the inside.  The blog also goes over the good places to go to get a good chopped salad and promotes a restaurant named Johnny Cakes for its atmosphere and hot breakfasts.  Reading this blog made me very hungry and I want to go find the places they suggested to try it out. With all these restaurants, I'd better get started!

Until Later,

Kelly