Renewal in Urban Areas

Urban Renewal is referred primarily to public efforts to invigorate aging and decaying inner cities, although some suburban communities started such projects as well. Including massive demolition, innovating poor areas, and rehabilitation, urban renewal proceeded initially from local and state I feel it has to usually start off from Neighborhoods. Urban Renewal is good in a way and benefits some but it can also affect factors in a negative way.

It was remarkable that one simple road through Paris could produce such outcome.
 The Avenue De L'Opera was mainly on how city planners and architects had been doing projects from small towns for a period of time then spreading on it to a large city. The consequence was the fast upward of why many people were unable to sustain this fast transformation and the poor had to move since the area once they had, now cannot be afforded. Often time people think they do no longer belong in the community.

In the past I have heard where new places, the neighborhoods, however, experienced a different kind of transformation. It is like when whites were among those uprooted in a neighborhood and on the certain lower areas around due to their expansion, to me urban renewal in this context too often meant, as can noted, “Negro removal.” It is sad that this happens but the struggles in these communities happen this way. 

The Neighborhood Roundtable:Thoughts on the round table discussion

Thoughts on the round table discussion

It was nice first of all to have James and George tell us the brief overview on Lancaster.

From Fridays, round table discussion, the topics we have discussed had not been fully concluded throughout our three hour period. As it started out, I felt it was wonderful that we’ve invited such important people to our discussion. Guests of Students from the summer of 2011 Neighborhood Narratives class, Lucy Kerman (Vice Provost for Community and Education) Liz Lerman (Artist, Founding Artistic Director Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, CCR Founding Fellow) Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (Artist, Founder and Artistic Director Urban Bushwomen, CCR Founding Fellow) Mark Christman (Representative from University City District: 38th Street/South) George Stevens (President of the new 21st Century Business Community org and James Wright (Representative Peoples’ Emergency Center: 38th Street/North).

Overall outside of Drexel’s campus the communities such as Lancaster are all poor communities.
One of the greatest problems in poor communities is the frequent loss of a positive vision towards the future. I recognize like every other university in the world it is mainly based on a business.
Examples are from expanding campus outside its boarder; promote housing off campus a few blocks. The major debate on putting our University to act more on arts in the city is probably not going to be a success. Our University is well-known on its engineering programs and business coming in second. Through this we try to expand our co-op programs even with Dr. Kerman’s statement on Drexel's goal had been directing towards business and engineering programs.

It seems that the media, university research, and government agencies work together to paint negative pictures of neighborhoods and while ignoring the powerful capacities that exist within each. In such situations, families, community members, teachers, and children themselves all too frequently develop these self-destructive images of their own lives and their communities.I have confidence that Drexel can form a partnership with the communities around Drexel where they can really make a difference in the community. With all the account of Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike to Lancaster Ave, much has happened in the past. 


The History of Lancaster should be well preserved and better engage with communities. In the past the first president of Drexel, James MacAlister served from 1891 to his retirement in 1913. During MacAlister's term, Drexel Institute offered courses for the public in art and illustration, mechanical arts, domestic arts and sciences, commerce and finance, teacher training, physical education, and librarianship.  From our history, we should still continue to engage in arts and find ways to better partnership with the communities.  Overall I feel that President Fry is heading to the right direction, but it takes much debating and planning to do so. 

Reading 1 Mobile Interface Theory : Jason Farman

Mobile media from mobile phones to smartphones to other smart technology are transforming our daily lives. We communicate, we discover, we network, we play, and much more using our mobile devices. I feel Farman’s explanation is perfectly correct that mobile technologies are taking over our lives. In Mobile Interface Theory, Jason Farman establishes how the worldwide implementation of mobile technologies is causing a reconsideration of the core ideas about what it means to live our average lives. He argues that mobile media's pervasive calculating model, which allows users to connect and interact with the internet while affecting across a wide variety of localities, has shaped a new sense of self among users a new embodied identity that branches from virtual space and material space regularly enhancing, cooperating or disturbing each other. On this I can relate to the Facebook check-ins on where you are currently. Exploring a range of mobile media practices  including mobile maps and GPS technologies, location-aware social networks, urban and alternate reality games that use mobile devices, performance art, and storytelling projects Farman illustrates how mobile technologies are altering the ways we produce lived, embodied spaces.

Local Invisible City: Lancaster Ave

Lancaster Ave

Local Health Care Center For local Residence

Use to be a Movie Theater 

Local Tire/ Wheel Business

Hello Everyone

Hello! Welcome my blog. Had some difficulty on recovering my passwords and user name so I am posting everything now. This blog shows the class materials on Neighborhood Narratives at Drexel University, my personal reactions to reading assignments. In addition to other relevant information. Lastly the photographic materials that depicts the materials we are on.