For the majority of my life, I have lived in Woodbridge,
Virginia, which is a suburb of Washington, D.C. I have seen suburbanization happening first hand. Throughout
the 20 years that I have lived here, a large number of people have started
migrating to suburban areas, such as Woodbridge. The great increase in
population has brought about changes in the area. One issue that the book
brought up is that there are environmental challenges. The influx of people
means that there has to be much more housing for people to live in. There also
needs to be more stores than there were before. This has resulted in the
destruction of many wooded areas. Many of the places that were full of trees
when I was a child have now been cut down and built into shopping centers. Another
challenge brought about by the influx of people is that there are not enough
jobs to accommodate everyone. As a recent college graduate, I have experienced
first hand how hard it is to get a job in the area. There are so many people
who are qualified to do jobs that it increases the competition. The only way to
deal with this problem is for more businesses to come to the area, but then
that just further exacerbates the problem of overcrowding. It will be
interesting to see how these problems are dealt with in the future.
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI definitely relate. I have lived in the northern Virginia area almost my whole life and have watched it change tremendously. My neighborhood used to be surrounded by trees and have only 2 cul-de-sacs of houses, but now it has been built up so immensely that there are hardly any trees in sight. While developing roads and nearby stores are convenient, the destruction of the environment is sad.
As you said, job competition is difficult. I guess this is where the knowledge/information economy comes in, credentials become important, and portfolio workers develop. The more skills, qualifications, and experience someone has, the more valuable he or she becomes. I think it can be especially frustrating for some of us who are young and want to gain this initial experience to get our foot in the door.
Thanks for sharing!
Talia
Talia,
DeleteI definitely agree with you that the knowledge/information economy is very important in this area! Just having schooling is no longer enough, experience has become such a necessary component. However, it is very frustrating because we all need to gain our first experience somehow! Jobs are frequently being given to those who have more experience, and it is not letting the less experienced people gain their experience.
Thanks for the comment!
--Jennifer