Writer: regard myself as to being a resident of phoenix in order to establish a personal connection with the reader.

Audience: My target audience is fellow Phoenix residents.

Purpose: To educate fellow Phoenix residents on urban sprawl and the ill effects it yields.

Topic: The topic is Urban Sprawl and its effects.

Context: My situation for writing is an essay involving an environmental concern to be turned into my English 101 class.

Imagine a decrepit wasteland spewing with rancid pollutants. Where crime is met as frequently on the streets as industrious and commercial obstructions litter any path one could choose. As frightening as this sounds, the most unnerving sense comes from the realization that we as Phoenix’s inhabitants will one day soon meet with this grim reality. The main cause of what could become this bleak future can be referred to as urban sprawl. As citizen of Phoenix I have seen first hand the degenerative nature of urban sprawl. To better understand urban sprawl I will show how it has affected us, how it has affected our environment, and how it will continue to afflict both. But first it is important to have a clear understanding of what urban sprawl is.

Urban sprawl is defined as the uncontrolled spread of urban development into neighboring regions. Urban sprawl also applies to the development of suburban areas as well. A relatively new idea, this simplistic variable is ever so prominent in a country with a steadily growing population along with diminishing amount of area to expand upon. With it comes an increase of crime, over development of areas, and pollution. One of the best examples of this untamed expansion happens to be our own city of Phoenix.

Ask any native Arizonan what he or she has noticed about Phoenix in the last ten years and your bound to get the same answer over and over. They’ll note how, “Nobody lived out here,” state that, “There wasn’t near as much Commercial buildup,” or mention, “ There was plenty more desert.” Regardless of his or her phrasing, the main idea is likely to match that of anyone else you would survey. For instance, ten years ago a person’s motivation to move out here could have been to escape the allergies found commonly in other parts of the country but was nonexistent here. Now, with the exponential growth of the Phoenix area, air pollution, an influx of nonnative plants from other parts of the country, and other urban sprawl related factors contribute virtually intoxicated air that hangs over the city. Ten years ago, anyone could gaze up into the vast night sky and gain a remarkable sense of awe for there was nothing to obstruct one’s view of the heavens. Yet now with the excessive amount of city lights torching the night sky, the only thing left to see in the evening hours is what we are engulfed by in the day. All of the effects of urban sprawl on the individual can leave one to lead a cramped and dreary life. However, with personal comfort aside we Arizonans must remember that the environment itself takes the on the harshest consequences.

With urban sprawl extending out into the desert areas surrounding Phoenix man continues to forcefully relinquish the native animals and plants of their habitat. Also take into account that with all the people that come into Phoenix they bring with them their destructive devices that our society not only deems as ok but more as a necessity. With the increase of people comes the increase of cars, which in turn increases the amount of hazardous toxins that seep into the air. This greatly adds to the diminishing of our ozone layer that also contributes to global warming. With this and all other factors that come with urban sprawl one can only imagine what the future will have in store for Arizona.

If current conditions proceed as is Phoenix could become a festering cancer to our nation, producing crime and pollution of which would prove to be the utmost harm to our way of living. Without any natural place to go children ten years from now would only know pavement from house and nothing in between. With the already brown haze suspended over the city, imagine Phoenix’s sky after ten more years of air pollution. Add that to the already numerous heath issues that comes with breathing in this air laden with adverse chemicals.

Though one can only speculate the future we don’t need to sit around and wait to see if urban sprawl will continue to be a hazard to our environment. With so little we can do to combat urban sprawl the best we can do is not contribute to the problem. If each take the time to throw something away rather than polluting our environment with it or ride the bus instead of burning unnecessary fuel driving our own car we would begin to see a dramatic difference in our environment. Unfortunately I believe urban sprawl is inevitable and the only means of avoiding its dangers is to move as far away from the city as possible. Only then would one not contribute the destructive machine often referred to as mankind.


Personal Reflection #3