Discussion: Cause and Effect of Urban Issues

Have you driven on an interstate that obviously divides a neighborhood in two, cutting off each side from the other? Did you wonder what life was like prior to when the road created a barrier through the middle of an inter-dependent community?

A city is a complex system, with each neighborhood, street, or institution connected to some other part. Choices made to benefit one area or group can affect another in ways both planned and unplanned. In this Discussion, you examine the cause and effect of a change in a city.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Read the articles in your Learning Resources.
• View the media piece Government and Political Structures in Land Use.
• Read the resources you chose using the guidelines provided in the “Student Contributed Resource Worksheet” document, located in this week’s Resources area. Use them as references in your initial post.

Thread 2: Care Where Needed

Consider this scenario: The city plans to build a new drug rehabilitation clinic, which will include a job-training center on the edge of the city. The location is across the street from a high-income suburb and next to another middle-income city neighborhood. Officials cite the increase in drug-related crime in outer areas as one reason for the location but also cite the fact that more jobs are available in inner ring suburbs. The city is promoting the partnerships created with companies willing to assist in job placement with the new clinic but nearby residents are not happy.

Post a 250-word response in which you compare how choices related to urban issues in the “Care Where Needed” scenario affect the quality of life for the citizens involved.