Dealing with Growth
In a world today of immense1 technology， population growth and economic flourish2， planning for future residential and commercial developments needs careful analysis with well thought through assumptions3 about effects on the environment and the people of the community.
One example of a growing city， residentially and commercially， is Wooster， Ohio， my place of residency. Wooster in the last five years has grown considerably4 in population， leading to a growth in commercial business. Surrounded by farmland， Wooster's planning commission chose to extend the community into these farm areas in the form of residential and commercial areas.
Picture this――a quiet， peaceful， old farmhouse with a barn， fixed appropriately on the outskirts5 of a city of about twenty thousand. Corn fields， old trees， clean air， country roads， and wildlife are all part of the area. Within four years， the people living on this farm step outside on their front porch6 to view an extensive shopping center containing Wal-Mart， JC Penny， Elder-Beerman's， Lowe's， McDonalds， Wendy's， TCBY， and a Cinemark movie theater.
The once quiet road is now a city street with traffic lights， busy with automobiles day and evening. The air smells of car exhaust7 and fast food.
Some destruction of farm land is unavoidable when a city expands.Instead of expanding outward， planning commissions should consider interior remodeling8 of a city. Tearing down9 unusable10 buildings could remodel many areas inside the city. In addition， commercialized buildings could extend upwards to avoid unnecessary use of land.
I also question the necessity of these commercial businesses. For example， Wooster now has three McDonalds， two Wendy's， two Hardy's， Burger King and a Taco11 Bell. In a town of twenty thousand people， this many fast food restaurants seem extremely unnecessary. When a community is introduced to a large amount of nationwide commercial businesses， the community loses its uniqueness， loses small private owned businesses， and becomes a mirror image of every other average city.
Environmentally， commercial expansion is detrimental12 to the land. Besides forms of pollution， wildlife， including both plants and animals， is put at risk.
A 300-year-old oak tree was cut down in 1994 in the north end of Wooster so a street could be widened. A planning commission could realize the benefits of an historic tree and refuse to allow its destruction. Why not retain13 the beauty and naturalness14 of the land while at the same time allowing for growth？
Many developments of homes have been established in the past five years in Wooster. These homes are similar in style， causing a uniformity15 in appearance of new neighborhoods. Planning commissions should avoid uniformity in neighborhoods and allow for a combination16 of styles for homes.
Many older homes located in downtown17 areas that have become decrepit18 could be replaced by newer homes， thus saving the surrounding farmland and trees. With the transition from old， run-down19 homes to contemporary homes， the city as whole would be improved in appearance and cleanliness. Neglecting what a community already has is a factor in planning that should change.
With a steady growth of population and the need for more homes and more work places， many problems arise when planning for the future. The hillsides， fields， animal habitats and forests need to be preserved while expanding cities. In the future， a world covered with concrete20 and asphalt21 could become reality. Serious research and analysis are needed when planning for the future of our home communities and for the entire globe to avoid such a tragedy.
当今世界无穷尽的技术、人口的增长、经济的繁荣，对未来居民区和商业区的发展规划需要谨慎的分析，要充分设想其对环境与社区居民所造成的影响。
一个居住与商业都快速发展的城市的实例就是我所生活的地方――俄亥俄州的伍斯特。在过去的五年中，伍斯特人口剧增，促进了其商业的发展。由于它被农田所包围，于是伍斯特规划委员会选择了将社区向农场扩展的这样一种居民区与商业区模式。
请想象一下这种情景：一个安静祥和、带有谷仓的旧式农舍，恰当地安排在一个拥有两万人口的城市的郊区。玉米地、老树、清洁的空气、乡村公路以及野生动植物都是这个地区的组成部分。短短的四年间，生活在这个农场的居民走出家门，映入眼帘的却是大型的购物中心，包括沃尔玛特、JC便士、老比尔曼、洛沃斯、麦当劳、温迪斯、TCBY以及辛马克电影院。
曾经宁静的道路现在成为了一条交通灯林立、从早到晚都车水马龙的都市街道。空气中弥漫着汽车的废气以及快餐的味道。
当一座城市扩张时，对农田部分的破坏是不可避免的。规划委员会应当考虑城市内部改造而不是向外扩张。拆掉那些不合用的楼房能够改建市区的许多地方。此外，商业大楼可以向高处延伸以避免不必要地占用土地。
而且，我对建设这些商业设施的必要性也心存疑虑。比方说，伍斯特现在有三家麦当劳、两家温迪斯、两家哈代斯、汉堡王以及一家贝尔煎玉米卷。在一个人口仅有两万的城镇，这么多快餐馆似乎极其不必要。当一个社区有了大量的全国性的商业设施后，该社区便失去了其特色，丢掉了自己小型的私有生意，变成了其他一般城市的翻版。
环境上，商业扩展对土地是有害的。除了各种污染外，野生物种，包括动物和植物都面临着危险。
1994年在伍斯特北端，一棵300年树龄的栎树被砍掉以加宽一条街。规划委员会是能够认识到一棵具有历史意义的古树的益处而拒绝对它的损毁的。为什么不能在允许发展的同时保留土地的美丽和自然特色呢？
在过去的五年中，伍斯特开发了许多家庭住宅项目。这些住宅风格雷同，形成了外观一样的新住宅区。规划委员会应该避免这种雷同并允许住宅风格的多样化。
位于城区的许多年久失修的老房可以被新居取代，这样就可以拯救四周的农田和树木。随着老房、危房被改造成现代住宅，整个城市将面目一新、干净整洁。漠视一个社区已经拥有的东西是规划委员会必须改变的一点。
随着人口的逐步增长以及人们对更多住宅与工作场所的需求，未来的规划中会出现许多问题。在城市扩展时，山坡、田野、动物栖息地以及森林需要得到保护。在未来，由混凝土和沥青覆盖着的世界会可能成为现实。因此，在规划我们的居住社区以及全球的未来时，我们需要认真研究与分析，以避免这种悲剧的发生。
注释：
1.immense adj.巨大的
2.flourish n.繁荣
3.assumption n.假定，假设
4.considerably adv.相当大地
5.outskirt n.市郊，郊区
6.porch n.门廊，走廊，阳台
7.exhaust n.废气
8.remodel vt.改造，改建
9.teardown拆毁
10.unusable adj.不可用的
11.taco n.墨西哥煎玉米卷
12.detrimental adj.有害的
13.retain vt.保留，保持
14.naturalness n.自然
15.uniformity n.一样，一致
16.combination n.结合
17.downtown adj.（城镇的）商业区的，闹市区的
18.decrepit adj.破旧的，失修的
19.run-down adj.失修的，破败的
20.concrete adj.混凝土的
21.asphalt n.沥青，柏油
散文本文地址：http://www.dioenglish.com/writing/essay/44174.html
