Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Huston Gibson / Often cities are in a perpetual struggle to increase or maintain community development within their districts; how can cities revitalize struggling neighborhoods? How can cities bring energy and life into portions of the downtown? How can cities encourage development for night-time destinations? There is no clear-cut answer to these questions, but this study will examine what amenities within districts may be in the presence of successful music venues. I will determine the district-based criteria for potential venue placement for success based on multiple case studies of different venues located within St. Louis, MO; Omaha, NE; and Indianapolis, IN as described in Yin’s Case Study Research (2009). These case studies will be compared using the community capital framework (Green & Haines, 2012) using a matrix based upon a) social, b) physical, c) financial, and d) cultural capitals. Each study will contain both qualitative and quantitative analysis in order to tell the story of each district for more comprehensive analysis.

Background: During live concerts attendees are exposed to excessive high intensity sounds for durations considered dangerous to the auditory system. Thus, regular live music concert attendees are at risk for developing Music Induced Hearing Loss (MIHL) due to their recreational habits. Although MIHL is preventable, current hearing conservation is limited at live music venues. As personal hearing protection is poor within this community, a need for alternative hearing conservation strategies is evident. Method: The objectives of this multi-method quantitative research study was to determine whether venue-based hearing conservation strategies in live music venues are a plausible means of reducing the risk of music induced hearing loss. Four live rock and heavy metal music venues in Johannesburg (South Africa) were included in the study. The current venuebased hearing conservation strategies as well as the acoustic and structural characteristics of these venues are described. In addition, the Sound Pressure Levels (SPLs) were measured throughout the venues. The variance of the mean SPLs between different areas within these venues were then calculated and effects of the structural characteristics on the variance of the sound levels within the venues were determined. Results: The results indicated that hearing conservation including awareness programs and availability of Hearing Protection Devices (HPDs) are not currently occurring in the music venues. Music venues further do not comply with the OHSA (2003) regulations nor are they compliant in terms of the acoustic and structural recommendations for reducing the intensity levels in music venues. Statistical analysis indicated at least one pair of significant differences in the mean SPLs recorded in the different areas in each venue. Results further indicated trends in the variance of intensity levels between different areas confirming a positive relationship between each of these five trends and the variance of sound levels. Thus, this study indicates that venue-based hearing conservation strategies may be a plausible means for reducing the risk for MIHL in attendees at live music venues. Implications: Implications of this study are discussed in relation to clinical and practice guidelines for both audiologists, and occupational health personnel, whilst the need for changes in legislation are highlighted.