The St. Johns neighborhood of North Portland is known for its strong regional identity, working class character, and diversity. Portland as a whole has experienced a major socioeconomic shift in the last ten years, and these changes are hitting St. Johns particularly hard. My research seeks to identify the place meanings that underpin sense of place, place attachment, and processes of attachment formation, among residents of the neighborhood. My research questions are: What are the objects of attachment? Why (the place meanings that underpin attachment)? And how (through what processes are attachments formed)? In what ways are the "why" and "how" intertwined? What are the commonalities across different variables, and how do those gesture at a holistic St. Johns essence, or sense of place? My primary method was Resident-Employed Photography, supported by participant observation and archival research. This 'photo voice' method entailed giving single-use cameras to 43 place-attached St. Johns residents and asking them to photograph and write about twelve things that explain their connection. The results offer a rich, multifaceted understanding of place meanings and processes of attachment in St. Johns, and insight into what individual facets are most intrinsic to sense of place. The intention of this research is to inform planning efforts, contribute to community dialogues about the future of St. Johns, empower residents to become civically engaged, and articulate a sense of place that can be leveraged by the community in spatial struggles.

This study explores the Portland music scene as a context in which local identity is constructed and communicated in a globalized world. Specifically, neo-localism is utilized as a theoretical lens through which the impacts of globalization were explored. Portland bands (n=8) were interviewed concerning their experiences in the local music scene. The results showed that participants conceptualized local identity as being 1) based in community, 2) culturally saturated and 3) connected to musical production. Further, results showed that participants were increasingly aware of this local identity, were aware of a global perception of this local identity and were aware of other local identities. Overall the results from this study support neo-localism as a useful conceptual lens for understanding local identity for Portland bands.

This study looks at how place and local identity of Portland are described within music lyrics from Portland, Oregon popular indie-rock artists. Employing a constant comparative analysis on a set of 1,201 songs from 21 different popular Portland indie-rock artists, the themes of landscapes and climate were found to represent place, and themes of lifestyles and attitudes represented local identity. Reviewing the uncovered themes showed a strong connection between representations of place and local identity within lyrics and common stereotypes or understandings of the city of Portland and its indie-rock music scene. The results of this study illustrate how place and local identity are communicated through popular but locally-tied music lyrics and how these lyrics may describe cities.

Anthropogenic impact on the environment, mainly resource depletion and pollution, is limiting the potential for future generations to have the same resources that previous generations have enjoyed. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges of our time will be curtailing our own personal impacts on the environment. To do this, we must adopt more sustainable lifestyles at home. This research sought to understand how neighborhood identity affects sustainability at the household level. In the summer of 2012, residents of two neighborhoods in Portland, Oregon completed 314 self-report, web-based surveys. The neighborhoods selected for this research were demographically similar, but one projected a sustainable neighborhood identity and the other did not. Survey questions were designed to determine respondents: level of engagement in their neighborhood, attitudes towards the environment, and adherence to sustainable behaviors. Findings suggest that neighborhood engagement can influence household sustainability levels in Portland. This research also suggests that the city or region may have more effect on perceived household sustainability than the neighborhood does.