Week 1 Reflection

1. The most important point of this week’s reading is stating that the planners will have an organized plan for improvement in society. For example, the planners will work on making room for growth and industry after creating the towns and cities. One way to make that plan to happen is by starting to build places where the people would prefer to live, work, or shop; this would create a city. By the 19th century, the nation was filled with towns and cities from coast to coast. Once a town or a city is built, then that is when improvement could begin. Some cities have may environmental concerns that need to be dealt with; Massachusetts is one example. Massachusetts formed the Metropolitan District Commission which is responsible for regional sewerage and water. This was created to eliminate the environmental
My “Ah-ha” moment in the reading is stating that New York was the leader in crafting zoning ordinances and public health, housing, and building codes. New York established minimum standards for housing (Tenement House Law) and limited land uses and the intensity of development (Zoning Resolution). I was not aware that New York was a leader in these efforts. I did not know a lot about New York until I have read this week’s reading.
3. I found a connection between the practices done by the United States and the practices done by Europe. Given that early city planning in the United States reflected a number of European practices, this attitude is perplexing (Sanyal 55). The city planning is similar between the U.S. and Europe; this also relates to how the American theaters are strongly influenced by the London theater. I find it very interesting how America likes to follow Europe in city planning and also in the theaters.
4. The planning process is a complicated process, yet the cities in the U.S. changed a lot because of this process. My question is, why did the Americans choose to be different from the rest of the world and build cities in their particular