Geography Cat is very grateful to the Grade 5 and 6 students of Jamaica Village School and their teacher for sending in this lovely postcard and for going to the trouble of each signing it so beautifully.
Jamaica Village is located in the state of Vermont, North East USA. It looks like a beautiful place; full of history and creativity. You can find out more about it on its official webpage.
One of the interesting things that Geography Cat discovered about this settlement is the large proportion of independent shops and businesses. There is a concept in human geography called the clone town, and its opposite the home town. A clone town is one where the large proportion of chain stores and franchised premises make it virtually indistinguisgable from thousands of other settlements in that country. On the other hand a stroll around a home town would quickly show it to be a distinctive and recognisable unique place.
Geography Cat believes that Jamaica, Vermont is almost definitely a very good example of a home town. However, to test this hypothesis he would have to travel there and conduct some research. Geography Cat does not travel well though and the transport costs of this potential fieldtrip are beyond his budget. So, maybe someone in Jamaica Village could do the research for him?
In fact, anyone can do this geographical investigation in whatever settlement they choose. Why not find out if your hometown is a home town? The New Economics Foundation has done all the hard work for you, just follow the instructions on this link. Once complete you may find this report interesting, and don’t forget to let Geography Cat know your findings, either comment here or on his Facebook page, or email him directly: Geography_Cat@aol.com.
Port Vila, Vanuatu is not a large city but the main road, Kumul-Lini Highway passes through shops on either side. It has just been nominated a “Global Green City” as part of the Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Awards at the 2018 Annual Session of the Global Forum on Human Settlements at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, on the 31st of October which is “World Cities Day” – http://dailypost.vu/news/port-vila-wins-global-green-city-award/article_b0acf110-9cf3-5bd4-b82e-ca61b324e683.html.
Our harbour waterfront area has its own cultural market and meeting house which could be regarded as a home town separate from the main hometown. It has its own unique character and sense of place – https://web.facebook.com/HoasBlongHandikraft/.