This paper is to be about 2 pages + bibliography. Double-spaced, 1" margins, typed. Please have each city on its own page! No more than a page per city should be necessary. We are looking for the reason thei city was founded where it was; what its relationship is/was with the surrounding area (situation); if this has changed since its founding, how and why. I do not need to know the Chamber of Commerce hype.

I have emphasized location, site and situation in class. You should know what they are by now, but just in case:

Site: This extends the location description to include the ground a town occupies. The physical features of the landscape favor the placement of towns. It also allows for classifying towns according to physical features: rivertowns, gateways, natural resources.

Site can also include the street layout, the demographic patterns and city functions or zones.

Also included within Site is the absolute location: the precise, latitude and longitude of a place. Can also be a distance in relation to another place. It is the geographical equivalent to dates in history. Location describes a unique point, but give little other information beyond a mere description.

Situation: It relative location. This places a settlement in relation to the physical and human characteristics of the surrounding areas: its raw materials, market areas, agricultural regions, mountains, oceans. Its proximity and accessibility to other places

The site and situations of a place may change over time. I have given the example in class of Pittsburgh, which was originally a fort and jumping off place to go west on the Ohio River. Later this changed in relation to the natural resources: coal and iron ore.

PLEASE BE AWARE! I am not interested in what the city makes, or its history generally, but IN RELATION TO THE PLACE IT IS LOCATED IN! This can and often does change over time. I DO want to know why a city was origianlly founded where it is, why it stayed there, how it has grown. Is it a industrial city, a distribution city---I want to know the WHY of the city.

The assignment will require you to go to the library and look at the topographic maps. These are available online also at:

http://www.topozone.com
but I suggest you look at the larger maps to get a better feel for the situation of the city. If a topo is not available for that particular city, then find one of the many available maps in the map library. Another resource is to look at US Historical city maps, maps of US Metropolitan areas (1970) or more recent City Maps.

A map of the city alone will not do, you will need one of the surrounding area, and a topo type map would be best, followed by a physiographic map.
You would be best to also do some reading on the city to discover the whys and wherefores of the city. A bibliography is expected. See my web page if you have problems with form or biobliography. http://www.emich.edu/public/geo/geography/Mayda/gradecriteria.htm

The assignment is to find the location, site and situation of the two chosen cities and then to tell me why they are where they are, and if this situation has changed over time.

Some Questions you may want to answer are:

Where was the original core of the city? Has it expanded? Why? In what direction? Why?

What were the function and economic base of the city when it was founded? Has it changed?

Are there irregularities in street layout? Why?

How did techology of the time help shape the city? (How is the city shaped and how has it changed as transportation or communication has changed?)

Does the city's neighborhoods, its cultural landscape, change with physical features? How?

Is the city its own metropolitan area, included in another metropolitan area, or part of a conurbation?

What is the city's urban morphology? (its physical form of street patterns, building sizes and shapes, architecture, and density patterns)

What is the city's functional zonation? (pattern of land uses, or areas with different functions-residential, commercial, governmental.Functional zonation can also be social patterns. do the wealthy live there? The poor? What ethnic or racial groups live in the city? How does this affect its layout or functional zones?

Is there a relationship with the historic time the city was founded and the dominant transportation method at the time?

• This is a continuing assignment within my classes. The citiesare now being databased and entered to create a GIS map to put online. This is being done with the help of student workers doing an Independent study. If any of you are either interested in doing a GIS project (no experience necessary--just curiosity and enthusiasm) please see me to work on continuing the project with this semester's cities.

Chicago: 1893 Exposition Building Click on Photo for historic reference to Site and situation in relation to Chicago

Winter 2003 Cities (you need 2) Albany, New York Ames, Iowa Anaconda, Montana Asheville, North Carolina Bar Harbor, Maine Baton Rouge, Louisiana Bedford, New York Bismarck, North Dakota Brandon, Manitoba Burns, Oregon Cahokia, Illinois Calgary, Alberta Calipatria, California Carson City, Nevada Charleston, West Virginia Cleveland, Mississippi Cleveland, Tennessee Cody, Wyoming Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Crystal City, Manitoba Cut Bank, Montana Dawson, Yukon Edmundston, New Brunswick Estevan, Saskatchewan Fairbanks, Alaska Flagstaff, Arizona Fort Smith, Arkansas Gallup, New Mexico Garden city, Kansas Guymon, Oklahoma Haines City, Florida Holland, Michigan Idaho Falls, Idaho Incline Village, Nevada Kapaa, Kauai, Hawaii La Crosse, Wisconsin Lamar, Colorado Leamington, Ontario Lemmon, South Dakota Lexington, Kentucky Lima Ohio Lincoln, Nebraska London, Ontario Memphis, Tennessee Michigan City, Indiana Montauk, New York Montgomery, Alabama Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Nashua, New Hampshire New Bern, North Carolina New Harmony, Indiana Newnan, Georgia Newport News, Virginia Newport, Rhode Island Park City, Utah Perryton, Texas Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pittsfield, Massachusetts Port aux Basques, Newfoundland Potosi, Missouri Poultney, Vermont Rapid City, South Dakota Rimouski, Quebec Rock Rapids, Iowa Roswell, New Mexico Salisbury, Maryland San Diego, California Scottsdale, Arizona Smethport, Pennsylvania Spring Green, Wisconsin Springfield, Missouri St Catherine, Ontario Stamford, Connecticut Sydney, Nova Scotia Telluride, Colorado Traverse City, Michigan Tulsa, Oklahoma Valdosta, Georgia Victoria, British Columbia Vinton, Virginia Walla Walla, Washington Warroad, Minnesota Wilmington, Delaware Wilson, North Carolina Winter Garden, Florida

 

Fall 2002
Section No. 150136

Cities to choose from (You need 2).
When chosen, please email me <cmayda@online.emich.edu> which cities you have chosen , so they are evenly distributed. Thank you.

Summer 2002
Section No. 148178

Cities to choose from (You need 2).
When chosen, please email me <cmayda@online.emich.edu> which cities you have chosen , so they are evenly distributed. Thank you.

Fall 2001
Amarillo, Texas
Billings, Montana
Cleveland, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Dallas, Texas
Dayton, Ohio
Des Moines, Iowa
Flint, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Lethbridge, Alberta
Miami, Florida

Natchez, Mississippi
Portland, Maine
Saginaw, Michigan
San Bernardino, California
Shreveport, Louisiana
Sitka, Alaska
Spokane, Washington
Springfield, Ohio
St. John's, Newfoundland
The Dalles, Oregon
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Traverse city Spring Course 2002
Section No. 157860

Cities to choose from (You need 2).
When chosen, please email me <cmayda@online.emich.edu> which cities you have chosen , so they are evenly distributed. Thank you.

Casper, Wyoming
Dover, Delaware
Escanaba, Michigan
Fernie, British Columbia
Madison, Wisconsin
Milledgeville, Georgia
Minot, North Dakota
Morgantown, West Virginia
Thermopolis, Wyoming
Traverse City, Michigan