Urban Location Langley Park Maryland - Statistics Project Example

Community Project Paper The place under review in this particular case is an urban location, Langley Park Maryland. . I visited the location by going to a different town in an effort to change the scene from the local location and I found this to be rather interesting as it would be more educational in terms of the geography. The area stretches as far as 7 Square miles in terms of the physical size; the Total Population of the location is at 103,689 people making it a rather intriguing area of study. It is important to go through the health and social dynamics of the area in order to gain an even deeper understanding. There are major topography figures in the location and one of them is the great hill of Maryland that one has the ability of seeing as he enters the town. There is also a river that flows right in the middle of the town and acts as a symbol of unity for communities that dwell in that location. The housing of the area is another factor to put in mind. The structures put up in the city are apartment building with the likely possibility of about 10 families per building. However, as one goes deeper into the city, there are bungalows erected by individual people and their families. The sanitation in the entire street is appealing seeing as there runs a draining system all through the town and in all major buildings except for some that share a drainage system. There are numerous safety factors in the environment that ensure that people do not get into any complications as they run their day to day lives. One of the safety factors to recognize is the presence of speed limit signs to avoid accidents and street lights to keep people safe from mugging at night. The source of water for the community is the river that runs downtown. This river runs into a lake where a reservoir then holds the water for pumping purposes. As stated earlier, the sanitation of the town is rather very effective. This is from the fact that the drainage system is well maintained by the city council and there are no cases presented by the local communities with regard to the sanitation. There are numerous nuisance factors in the society that make it rather hard for people living in that location. One of them is street gangs that have a history of shooting innocent people during their gang wars and also making it very hard for people to live peacefully in the area due to violence and robbery. The potential for disaster in the location is another factor that one ought to look at keenly in an effort to understand the location even better. The fact that there are very few patrol cars in the area making trips makes it very difficult to assure the citizens of their safety. Moreover, this comes as a rather challenging factor as the street gangs mentioned earlier have the ability of carrying out an activity that may put the entire city in jeopardy. One of the events that the community in the location remembers and hosts is the Great Langley Park fire. This fire happened in the late 1980s and very many people perished. Families were left without their loved ones and the community was in shock. The town comes together every year to celebrate the lives of those that died in the fire. The interaction between the community members is rather intriguing. This is from the fact that despite the ethnic or race background of the people, they still co-exist peacefully. This was clearly seen as I passed some casual laborers of different races working together. The location has two police stations that are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of every member of that community. The fact that they are two, with a population that big offers some form of inconsistency in terms of working. This has made the local crime rate to be steadily on the rise, a factor that has put many members of the community in fear. It is also important to recognize the sources of stress in the community. One of the factors here is the presence of gangs. These gangs have existed from the late 1990s and from their history, they do not leave people happy from the fact that they may even open fire on rival groups during the day and consequently kill innocent civilians. Another source of stress is the amount of graffiti present in the streets of the town. Some of the art is religious which is a positive factor, however, there are some drawing filled with insults and have had parents worry about the impression that these may have on their children. The number of mental problems in the location is rather small. This can be noted from the fact that people go on their normal lives and it is very rare of someone to go to the health institution or rather hard to find anyone taken there with a mental problem. Initially, the problem existed in the area and the likely reason for this is due to chemicals from a certain chemical plant present in the area at the time. However, after the economic recession of 2008, the factory closed and despite the fact that many people lost their jobs, the community is always appreciative for their health (Mehta, 2008). Langley Park city is governed by a city council that has the responsible for ensuring that people in the location follow the rules and regulations put up. The authorities have the responsibility of punishing anyone who goes off course in terms of ethical stature and consequently ensures that peace is maintained in the location. It is also important to note that there is the presence of non official leaders in the town. This is a group of people that form a group and are responsible for airing the grievances of the people living in Langley Park. Without such a group, individual members’ issues might get overlooked but with the unity provided by the group and their leaders, they have the ability to take care of them. Going through the political affiliations of the members of the community makes it rather clear to identify the perceptions of people in that community. One of the factors to account for is the fact that the leader of the community in question is a democrat. This shows the passion that people in this city have towards democrats. This fact proves that this town is less business minded but more socially inclined as has been the character of about all democrats from back when party politics started. The location has very many minority groups and the fact that they co-exist peacefully with people in the location offers a rather straight perspective as to the culture of the residents of Langley Park. In the location, there are very many black residents that work on a day to day basis with the rest of the community members. It is also important to identify with the language spoken by people in the community. English is the national language and this makes it no different for the people of the location citing the fact that they have always had a passion for culture. Despite that there are different ethnic communities residing in the area, the language that is common to more than 70% of the population is English. Most of the people in the community carry out casual labor or rather informal work. This means that a very small percentage of the population has employment opportunities in the formal sector. People working in the informal sector have a history of getting low income and the situation clearly applies to the people of Langley Park as these residents who carry out casual labor are the major occupants of the apartment buildings within the town. However, those with formal employment have their houses in the stated bungalows outside the town. Education is a very important factor to keep in mind when analyzing the situation of the town. There are different schools build inside the city and despite the fact that there is a proper education system in the town, this is not quite appealing provided the fact that the schools are located inside the city and consequently the attention that these students ought to pay to school and education does not come in from the fact that they may get distracted by activities happening in the city. The culture of the location has people living in unity and carrying out community projects in an effort to foster peace among them. This serves as a rather interesting factor provided the fact that these people have gang members in their midst and it is in such occasions that even the members join in and put the interests of the community first. Another factor to consider is with regard to the religious activities of the town. There two major churches in the town depending on whether one is a catholic or a protestant. Employment levels of the community are another factor to put into consideration when understanding the area. As stated earlier, there is the presence of gangs in the location which makes it rather difficult for people to go by their daily activities. These gangs are made of young people who either drop out of school or finish their education but do not have the amenities required to continue with their education or lack jobs. This makes the people idle and from the fact that they have to earn their living, they result to carrying out criminal activities. Many people have resulted to this form of livelihood due to lack of jobs and it is one negative factor. There are two major means of transport in the location. One of the means of transport is the bus. The bus is responsible for carrying people across town to different areas that they are interested in. The train is the other means of transport which is the major connection between the deeper parts of the city that are the area’s suburbs to the major town center. There are numerous shopping facilities in the location. At the entrance of the city, there is a major mall that serves people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds in the location. There are also many other mini-markets where people purchase their daily needs such as grocery. There are different types of social services in existence in the area. One of these is the fire department. This department is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that people are safe in case of fires and other related accidents. There are also the medical services that the government has done a rather hefty job in terms of funding. This has resulted to the purchase of several ambulances that ensure people are taken to the nearest medical facility as soon as an emergency occurs. There are different occupational hazards that can be pointed out in the location. One is in the construction business. This occupation is one that has always existed and will continue from the fact that houses and buildings have to be built in order to shelter people. However, there have been cases where buildings have collapsed and killed the people doing the construction work (Kent, 2011). The waters that rage in the river especially during the rainy season make the fishing business some form of hazard as people may die from being drowned by the water flowing heavily. The birth rate in the location is steady and mild. Most of the population is made up of young people below the age of 25. The older generation above 60 comprises the least part of the population. The greatest cause of death in the location is long term illnesses. The second greatest cause is accidents while the third greatest cause of death is short term illnesses. In terms of the morbidity, obesity has the greatest effect as a disease and its prevalence is among people of all ages. The morbidity and mortality rates of the contemporary times are rather low as compared to previous years. These rates are rather low as the average rates expected judging from the national data. The immunization status of the people in the location is quite high provided the fact that awareness campaigns have been carried out with regard to the importance of some of these activities. In terms of nutrition, it is important to recognize the fact that obesity is one of the major reasons as to why people are getting sick in the area. People do not carry out healthy activities such as jogging and they rather end up spending their money buying foods that are high on cholesterol levels. This makes them obese and many are times that these people fall ill. Alcoholism is a factor present in the area though it does not have a large prevalence. It is important to recognize that these people who drink are the same ones that are responsible for the building of the nation and thus they have their self interests at hand and do not let alcohol come in as a negating factor (Forsyth, 2009). The use of drugs in the area is another factor to discuss with regard to the population of the area. Most of the gang members take part in the use of illicit drugs and this makes their lives even more hopeless. There have been minimal cases of legal drugs being abused. Smoking is a major factor that communities in the area have engaged in to a point that the local authorities have set up different smoking zones all across the city. In terms of exercise, there are different ways in which people carry this out in the area. There are those people that go jogging in the parks while there are those that prefer going to the gym for exercise. The gym also comes in as a major recreational facility. There are also different arcades at which young ones go and spend their days playing during the weekends. The prices of these games present there vary and depending on the time one has planned to play, the cash counter in the machine does this. There is the wide use of safety belts in the location from the high number of accidents that the area had seen in prior years. The local authorities decided to impose strict rules and anyone caught breaking them would get severe punishment (Abley, 2005). Due to the high number of obese people in the area, one recognizes that the people in the location have not been very keen in terms of understanding the importance of appropriate health. There are different types of health services ranging from dispensaries to large hospitals where people are taken in case of sickness, these facilities are cheap due to the Medicare bill and thus everyone has access given their high frequency. Prenatal care is frequent also from the fact that maternity hospitals have been built over the last five years and these focus on the issues of pregnant women alone. As stated earlier, emergency services are available in the case of a fire and in emergency health problems. Schools have engaged in the activity of teaching young minds the importance of health; this is due to the high number of obese people in the location that has raised attention from major health officers and professionals. Moreover, awareness is spread through various meetings and they get informed regarding the importance of health and keeping fit. These services are carried out frequently with the intention of educating people across all ages. The government has had a large role to play in this and also in financing the healthcare sector after setting aside a large part of the budget and allocating it to this sector of the society. References Abley, S. (2005, March 21). Retrieved March 18, 2013, from Walkability Scoping Paper: http://www.tandfonline.com Button, K., Vega, H. L., & Nijkamp, P. (2010). Dictionary of transport Analysis. Cheltanham, UK: Edward Elgah Publishing. Forsyth, A. (2009). Walkable streets: pedestrian behavior, perceptions and attitudes. Maiden Avenue: Routledge. Hutabarat Lo, R. (2009). Walkability: What it is ? Journal of Urbanism , 2 (2), 145-166. Kent, E. (2011, August 18). Walkable Streets. Retrieved March 17, 2013, from Finding a place for parking: http://walkablestreets.wordpress.com/tag/walkability/ Mehta, V. (2008). International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability. Journal of Urbanism , 1 (3), 134-145. Read More