I live in Austin, Texas. The capital. Located in the heart of the Hill Country. The big city where all the fun and shananigans are a' happenin'. You get it. So, we are currently studying the "5 Themes of Geography" which are basically the things you need to know about different locations to actually call it geography. Like:
-Movement
-Region
- Human/Environment interaction
- Location
- Place
Ooh! and we came up with this little acronym to remember them; it spells out, "M.R.H.E.L.P."
I thought I would list out all of these themes, and how they apply to Austin. First is movement:
Movement - How people, Ideas, goods, and information move
-in Austin, we use many modes of transportation. I would call us a "green" city because lots of people like to use buses to get around and of course, their bikes. It's like a biker heaven here. And not the kind with engines. REAL bikes! Lance Armstrong started it all...
We're also really into our cars, but what city isn't? Downtown there's always a ton of walkers, usually with their dogs.
-as for communication, we use our cell phones for the most part. Everyone has a home phone, but since Austin is more of a lively place, we're on the move a lot. Therefore, cell phones! We use computers, laptops or home computers, for emailing and IMing.
Region- areas with common characteristics
- Austin is located right in the middle of the central Texas hill country, so the landscape is generally pretty green year-round. Hills are everywhere! I love the hills because they're not so massive as mountains, but they're pretty to look at and they "roll."
-Climate? Ha! It is incredibly hot and humid here, to the point where I occasionally question why I live here. Winters are mild. Ice/snow is VERY rare, and when it does come, we're not prepared and school is cancelled since we can't plow the roads!
- We use our land mostly for business here, we're not a farming town. Except for the suburbs. We all speak English here, obviously, though there are many spanish speakers here. Oh, and our Mexican food is Awesome.
Human/Environment Interaction- How people and places interact
-We've changed our environment, of course. All of the lakes here are man made, except for the Colorado River. We've built dams, made TONS of roads and highways that cut through the land,
and we've polluted. Pollution is not a huge problem here, in my opinion. Well, air pollution is. There are thousands of people who drive their cars to work each morning, even more trucks that blow fumes into the air, and trains that pass through leave a cloud of exhaust behind.
-I believe that we have adapted to our environment pretty well...since its SUPER HOT here, we usually wear minimal clothing...not in a bad way! We're a laid back, tank top and shorts kind of city. 'Cept for in the Winter. Then we throw on a sweater and some jeans and boots, and we're good to go.
Location- Where are we??
-ok, so there are two types of location. Theres relative location, where you give the location in relation to other places, and absolute location, which is the super duper exact location on the globe.
-Austin's relative location would probably be "on the Colorado River, South of Ft. Worth" and its absolute location is "30.3 Lat. and 97.7 Long."
Place- What is it like here?
-The atomoshere of Austin is what stands out most to me. I used to live in Arlington, and it was very different up there. I think that everyone here is much more laid back. People here are liberals, whereas in Arlington there are lots more conservative people. I never noticed how uptight it was there until I went back recently and realized that I liked Austin better! The buildings here are tall, urban, and mostly new. Recently Austin has been undergoing some big changes to the downtown skyline. And the music....rocks. More than anywhere. We host ACL, South by Southwest, and are called, "the live music capital." Music is very important to us all, and I think it defines the city.
Thanks for reading! Comments would make my day.... ~Lauren
