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28
Feb 14

Park Slope to Gowanus Canal Podwalk: Post-Industrial Urban Space and Health

Section I: Union Street from Grand Army Plaza to 5th Avenue

Walking down Union Street, every block in Park Slope is tree-lined and features renovated historic brownstones. The sidewalks and streets are well paved, allowing ease for joggers, many of which were sighted during my walk despite the cold. Healthy food options as well as establishments for exercise came one after the other. SLOPE fitness, Park Slope Yoga, the Health and Wellness center, next to the organic food store, next to the Park Slope Food Coop, followed by the bicycle shop, are a few of these establishments that support health.

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Section II: 5th Avenue to Nevins Street

photo 5Walking down Union Street, once 5th avenue is crossed, houses are no longer renovated-historic brownstones. More properties are heavily gated and businesses begin to have multi-lingual signs, indicating demographic differences between the two vicinities. Small businesses, restaurants, and wellness centers begin to get replaced by multiple auto shops and large gated lots.

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There remains various choices for exercise centers, for example there is a gym, then a boot camp, and a martial arts center, healthy food options decrease however, the only organic food store after 5th avenue is a juice shop that is currently closed.

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 Section III: Union Street Bridge

 

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The Canal is surrounded by warehouses, and what seems to be a bus depot on the left side of the picture above. In the picture below, there is large piping in the water, its source unknown, as well as its contents. The large blue and white  plastic containers to the right of the photo are also questionable with regards to contaminating the canal.

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Section IV: The Carroll Street Bridge

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The water level is definitely at low tide because the green mold reaches to about mid-pipe. If high tide was about three feet taller, there would be no flow out of this pipe and sewage water would rise back up to where it is coming from.

 

Posted by in 02/14 — No Comments
14
Feb 14

Ghost Map: Chapters Five to Eight

            Residents on Broad Street accepted the Miasma theory because it was the most readily used explanation, despite its dearth of supporting evidence. It is very easy however to blame the environment rather than human activity, just as we discussed in class, because human activity implies that we could change the outcomes of illness. The implementation of miasma theory had only exacerbated the spread of cholera. Believing all smell was disease, the Thames River became a sewage dump in efforts to rid homes of excretions and contaminated air. Although he held the unpopular opinion John Snow continued to build on his theory that contaminated water and not air was the vector for cholera.

            One week after the outbreak of cholera in Soho was when its turning point began with the removal of the Broad Street pump handle. It was the first time an informed intervention had been made based on a scientifically sound theory surrounding cholera. The removal of the pump managed to bring a decline to the outbreak as well as prevent a second outbreak. It is interesting to see that such a simple intervention can bring the end to such a lethal disease.

Posted by in 02/07 — 1 Comment
07
Feb 14

The Ghost Map 2/7

            The Ghost Map builds up to the inevitability of a cholera outbreak in Britain, detailing chronically unsanitary conditions, along side outbreaks in other parts of the world prior to 1831, providing the British with a false sense of superiority. Although the V. cholerae bacteria is ancient, an outbreak of cholera within the last two hundred years still managed to puzzle one of the world’s leading superpowers. Disease does not opportunistically prey on the politically, nor economically weak, but rather on populations that hold the social determinants of poor public health. Some determinants mentioned in The Ghost Map include lack of waste disposal systems, overcrowding among the living quarters as well as the deceased, and contamination of water systems, whether aware or unaware of its impurities. Although there is an ample amount of information on accounts of infection and lives and deaths, some of the physical and emotional torment that cholera caused, Johnson admits to require imagination (p. 32).
It may seem very obvious today that if we are quickly losing water, the best option is to rehydrate. Given Cholera’s quick and detrimental effects, however, it is easy to understand why doctors and scientists at the time would consider only complicated medications and solutions to a mysterious disease.

Reflection Questions:
Had foul smells and cramped quarters been a norm in 19th century Britain?  When did the public realize/become educated that their living conditions were increasing their susceptibility to disease?

Pricila Castillo

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