I grew up in the small town of Gilbertsville, about 40 mins away from Kutztown. The area that I grew up in was extremely small and only really consisted of residential areas for the entirety of the town. Thinking about my town I would put money down that the only new buildings that have been built are family housing, mostly just middle class houses but some larger housing projects and some town houses.
The only real examples I can see of globalization on my hometown are the few international corporations which reside along the main intersection in my town. One is a wawa which is easily the busiest and most profitable business in my area and it sees almost constant customers as everyone from my area seems to run on it. The other which is directly across the street is a cvs. There are a few small restaurants around my area. These are all either pizza parlors or bars. I would say there is a very noticeable Italian population which leads to many Italian restaurants and pizza parlors. I'd say that is the biggest piece of globalization in the area. There is also a large German population but that is not reflected by anything in my town.
I believe my area could very much benefit from an increase in globalization. One thing I could see the town doing is to set up an OctoberFest celebration. I know many of the surrounding towns have them and I could see this help increase both the German representation in the area and also bring in people from other areas which would increase "tourism" and increase profits at local businesses. I would like to say that we should increase the amount of international corporations but I as far as I know there isn't enough demand in my area for that to be a reasonable request. There are businesses in all the surrounding towns which are the primary places that people shop at, it's just a bit inconvenient because I am driving at least 20 mins to get to a Walmart or to get to a fast food restaurant. I think the town is only really meant as a residential area as there are no plans to build businesses anywhere so I think the best choice for the area is to celebrate the European roots many of its citizens have.
1 comment:
As someone who also lives in a small town near kutztown, I can relate to having the largest businesses in town being a gas station and not having many small businesses that show off different cultures. I think the idea of having an Ocktoberfest celebration is a great idea, there are many Pennsylvannia dutch people living in our area and bringing this culture to the forefront would definitely be a draw to those looking into it!
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