Different Rivers: Place Attachment vs. Place Identity

They say:

1. Hernandez et al(2007) find that when considering place attachments and identity, natives tend to score higher than immigrants on both, and that immigrants tend to score higher on attachment than identity.  
2. Stedman (2002) finds that place attachment and place satisfaction are both based on cognitive attributions made about the setting whereas the difference is that place attachment is based on to a lesser degree. And that we are willing to fight for places that are more central to our identities and that we perceive as being in less-than optimal condition.

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I say:

1. Agree. I believe that attachment is more easily to develop than identity when move to a new place. I think it’s because the attachment that people develop with certain places or objects are not strong enough to develop an identity based on those. Since those certain places or objects are just a small part of their old life whereas they are all they are similar to about their new life.
2. Agree. I think that in a relatively new place, people are more likely to attach themselves to belong to certain specific places, which are closer to their personal identities that they develop within their homes.

From a personal perspective, I tend to relate the Genesee River to Hunhe River back home. This is because I live in a neighborhood with only two-minute walk to the river while here in Rochester I also live by the river, although with a longer walk. These similarities remind me of life back home. However, more importantly, I find myself more comfortable and attached to the new city when I can see the river or by the river, for example canoeing on the Genesee River or simply walking by. This feeling expresses the same result as Stedman (2002) finds that we are more likely to describe ourselves to a specific place through interaction, in my case the river. Nevertheless, this sense of comfort by the river does not make me feel that I belong to Rochester City which can be defined as personal identity, but rather, it constantly reminds me that I am a international student who is here to pursue a tertiary education. I find this consistent to what Hernandez et al (2007) find that for immigrants, attachments are stronger than identities to places.