Ethnic landscape of Olean and my travels

The City of Olean offers examples of mixtures of ethnic landscapes. There are ethnic neighborhoods that exist but with out a strong first generation influence of shaping the community. There are remnants of a "little italy" on the north side of town. Every summer the residents of this neighborhood hold the Italian Festival consisting of "authentic" food, dance, art, and of course bocce. The southern areas of the city were settled by the Irish and Germans. There is a cemetery that is heavily influenced by German heritage. I feel the Irish settled here as a result of the railroad expanding through this area. The railroad played a large role in shaping much of the city landscape in my opinion. In the small time frame that is my life the city of Olean has lost much of ethnic landscape as a result neglect to preserve history and the decline of a working population to support the local economy. Talking to my grandparents about the different neighborhoods I found  out that there were many different ethnic restaurants in each neighborhood. The surrounding area has many ethnic influences also. The Cuba, NY area has a large Amish population with farm houses and beautiful barns. There are also a couple German stone homes influenced by the building techniques of  the homelands.

Germanic Stone influences of County Building

In my travels I have had the privilege of visiting many different cultural landscapes here in the United States as well as abroad. The Black Rock district of Buffalo offers some excellent examples of German and Polish architecture. I found it intriguing that on almost every corner there was a bar, a church and a general store or  business. Jamestown,NY has a wonderful Swedish bakery and neighborhood. This bakery is one of only a few in WNY. Moving westward there are the the Mormon settlements of the Salt Lake City area. The mormon  influence is interesting on multiple levels. The Church dictates daily activity and social interaction but the religion and customs influence the settlements of the area. An unknown, at least to a casual observer, is the use of a star on buildings belonging to Later Day Saints and the surreal number of churches that seem to pop up all over the landscape. Also, there is a little bronze plaque that marks the ally that once housed the Chinatown that used to flourish in the city.  I am looking forward to exploring the city of Salt Lake better very soon. I want to apply what i have learned in this class and a better understanding of the urban landscape to explore the built environment. 

Mormon Temple