My hometown, Franklin Massachusetts is a small suburban town forty five minutes outside of Boston, on the border of Rhode Island. With a population of around 33,000, Franklin consists of five elementary schools, three middle schools, one public high school, one private high school, and one university, Dean College. Along with schools there are also various shopping plazas and centers around town. Experiencing Newark as a college town has completely transformed my views of my hometown. Transportation for college students in Franklin is not as accessible. The narrow sidewalks, and lack of bike lanes makes driving the only logical mode of transportation in Franklin. The layout of the entire town makes walking for productivity rather than pleasure extremely difficult. As seen in the map below, Franklin is basically all backroads and open space. My house is represented by the yellow star, and the pink star is the closest grocery store; Groceries stores are a necessity, but unless you drive the location is just too far. Zillow deems my neighborhood as a less than 10/100 score in terms of walkability. Living in Newark has been eye opening, as I have learned how Franklin lacks inclusivity accessibility. I feel that my apartment at school would earn a 100% for walkability, as everything that I need is not only within walking distance, but also the layout of the city actually makes walking the most convenient mode of transportation. Most of the streets in Franklin look exactly like the picture above; all surrounded by woods with occasional houses in between, and no sidewalks. 

Kate Rudolph