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Before the improvements Before the improvements were made in the heavy-traffic-exposure neighborhood, many children drew expressions of dislike and danger associated with automobiles and were unable to represent any detail of the surrounding environment -possibly feeling overwhelmed by the threats posed by the automobiles. After the improvements alleviated the exposure to these threats, there were indeed fewer expressions of danger and dislike, indicating a greater sense of comfort and well-being. Furthermore the students expressed a much richer recall of the characteristics of neighborhood around the busy street. (See Figures lOa and lOb.) The pattern is also clear from the maps made by individual children who participated in both the before and after studies. In Figures 11(a) and (b) on the following page, a child showed a very high association with the threat of traffic before the improvements. (See the note in the lower right, "the cars never stop and there is too much trafick. " ) Furthermore, the busy, dangerous street between home and school is relegated to the bottom right corner of the map. Contrast this with the image drawn by the same child after the improvements. (To orient, note that in the second map the "n" shaped loop of the child's home street is much smaller and farther to the left). First, the heavy traffic/high speed street is now much more significant portion of the child's neighborhood image, as is the school. Furthermore, one of the most significant elements that stands out is the new pathway that is clearly represented across the lower portion of the map, highlighted by the green / / / \. '\ '\ Schodl . ~L ~ A \u.. A / / N A ./ ( ( w N A Figures lOa and lOb: Before improvements (a), there were many expressions of danger and dislike. After improve- ments (b), there were fewer such expressions, indicating a greater sense of comfort and well-being. 12 NCBW Forum Article 3-7-05- March 2005