Question: Geography which is a type of landscape can be used to send a message. Is that message always a good message?
What we see has an effect of what we think of an area. Take for example Tennesseetown which was predominantly African-American sector of the Topeka Kansas and was called that because the originally African American's came from Tennessee after the Civil War. The build shotgun houses which had African American architecture in it. They also had " hogs roamed past outhouses, tumbledown fences, dance halls, and churches" (326). In 1898 though Village Improvement society was created in order to clean up the landscape of Tennesseetown. They "removed trash, repaired fences, painted houses, planted lawns and flowers, and raised vegetables". This created an elevated status of Tennesseetown which benefited it greatly. Bottoms which was another area of Topeka Kansas inhabited by majority African American did not have the same landscape change and it suffered from illicit enterprises. This really brought down the reputation of the area as well. Landscape is a key way in which an area can help send a message and a great way to send a positive message about an area. Topia Kansas is a great example of what a message can do to two areas.
As we look back upon what geography looked like in American it can say something about the culture of the time. Geography of how children got to school in Topeka Kansas is a prime example of the culture of the time. Where there was no strict boundaries segregation an opportunity cost was increased by strict boundaries of segregation. By making black students attend an all-black school. This would limit how far away you could travel away from an all black school because the opportunity cost of transporting the student to school increased as you moved farther away from the school. This cost of transporting the student of school (non-monetary value because the board of education covered the monetary value) would also include the cost of inclement weather. Understanding space and geography are a key way of understanding the culture of the time. This inequality was used to bring the case of brown vs board of education but the argument was not geographic but ideological. The case wasn't about fixing Topeka geographic problem but fixing what that geographic problem said about American culture.