Traditional lawn care for suburban American households merits examination from both ecological and social perspectives. Such practices have potentially detrimental consequences on human and natural systems that will continue to grow with urbanization. Consequently, further characterization of the complex, multiscale processes in which lawn management decisions are rooted could enhance methods for encouraging the adoption of alternatives to industrialized lawn care. This study conceptualizes mesoscale, or neighborhood-level, influences on watering, fertilizing, and mowing practices in Baltimore city, through a modified grounded theory analysis of key informant interviews in Mount Washington, Westfield, and Park Circle. This study finds that mesoscale processes play a significant role in the residential lawn care of these neighborhoods. The applicable processes vary by the community’s social cohesion and tenets. As socioeconomic status and social cohesion increases within the study area, the influence of informal authority in residential lawn care increases. Results demonstrate potential policy implications. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Thesis (D. Ed.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 221-243). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

The thesis analyzes Baltimore City's food network, and seeks a site which has the potential for several factors: site accessibility, renewable resources, solar exposure, and connecting the community. These factors serve as the basis in which to build a hybrid prototype that is able to expose people to the process of food production through a combination of traditional outdoor farming methods and indoor hydroponics in the form of a vertical farm. / Master of Architecture