Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 122 p. : ill. (some col.), col. maps. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-116).

Thesis (MS)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2009. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: William Wyckoff. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 249-267).

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 65 p. : ill., col. map. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 60-63).

This case study examines the relationship between agriculture and urbanization in the context of Oregon's comprehensive land use planning system. The first article assesses the historical relationship between rural real estate development and investment in agriculture in Jackson County southern Oregon. The second article uses the theory of global urbanization to reflect on the patterns of urbanization in Jackson County and suggests that global urbanization might provide a useful framework for connecting urban political ecology and exurban political ecology. The third article focuses on the political economies of farmland preservation in Jackson County where there have been repeated calls for increased local control of land use planning. / 2016-09-29

L’Ouest du Montana, écrin de nature sauvage dans les montagnes Rocheuses, est depuis les années 1990 au cœur de dynamiques de migrations d’aménités et de gentrification rurale : celles-ci s’appuient sur des récits multiples - fictionnels tout autant que biographiques - qui mettent en scène des trajectoires de vie intimement liées à l’environnement. Réinvesti au nom de nouvelles valeurs dominantes, il constitue aujourd’hui un champ puissant que les individus mobilisent à travers leurs pratiques et représentations. Devenu avant tout support d’activités récréatives plus ou moins distinctives, ou paysage à contempler, l’environnement est déterminant dans la mutation socio-territoriale de l’Old en New West. Or, les dynamiques migratoires contemporaines ne sont ni socialement ni spatialement homogènes, et les inégalités d’accès à l’environnement sont manifestes. Il s’agit alors d’interroger l’existence d’élus et d’exclus dans l’archipel du New West, et plus généralement de soulever l’enjeu des inégalités socio-environnementales dans l’Ouest du Montana. En les analysant au prisme de la grille de lecture « capital environnemental », cette thèse tend alors à saisir le rôle de l’environnement, pensé dans toutes ses dimensions, dans la fabrique socio-territoriale d’un Ouest du Montana en mutation et à interroger la manière dont il génère et entretient de profondes inégalités et injustices. Dans un contexte de fortes recompositions socio-territoriales, il est au cœur de nouveaux investissements stratégiques qui déterminent les rapports de force. / A shrine of wilderness amidst the Rocky Mountains, Western Montana has been at the heart of a dynamic of amenity migration and rural gentrification since the 1990's : fictional and biographical stories support that dynamic and tell of life paths that are intimately tied to the environment. Individuals are now compelled to determine themselves in regard to that powerful field that has been reinvested through prevailing new values. From Old West to New West, social and territorial change is in itself determined by the environment as a field for more and less distinctive recreational activities or as a landscape to contemplate. Nevertheless, contemporary migratory dynamics are neither socially nor spatially equally shared and nor is access to the environment. Let us question the existence of outcast and chosen few in the New West Archipelago and raise the issue of Western Montana social and environmental inequities in general. Using « environmental capital » as a framework to interpret these inequities, this thesis tends to focus on how the environment, in its multiple forms, plays its part in the transformation of Western Montana and how it creates and sustains deep inequities and injustice. In a time of strong social and territorial change the environment is at the heart of new strategic investments that determine the balance of power.

Most sociological analyses of community attachment have focused on the strength of attachment, with little concern for the qualities or attributes of a place to which people become attached. In cases where dimensions of attachment are the focus of analysis, the literature is rather narrowly focused on social dimensions, re ferring most often to connections with family, friends, and other social networks and largely ignoring the realm of natural environment factors. Two primary premises motivated this study. Fi rst, sociological understandi ngs of community attachment wou ld benefit from an expanded analytic framework that incorporates more complex arrays of both social and natural environment dimensions. Second, it is important to understand what variations in attachment may mean for the broader well-being of rural communities. Initial analyses of the data demonstrated four key results. First, factor analysis of fi fleen indicators of attachment produced two distinct dimensions of community attachment, social and natural environment. Second, the nature of the response patterns indicates that strength of natural environment attachment is widely shared amongst a variety of res idents, regardless of length of residence, historical roots to the area, or life cycle. Third, participation in collective action and perceptions of open communication (measures of well-being) within a respondent's community explained only a small portion of the variance in both social and natural environment attachment. Fourth, Structural Equation Modeling demonstrated that there is a causal relationship between attachment and community well-being, though that relationship appeared to be non-recursive. In contrast to much of the previous empirical work on community attachment, this research provides strong evidence of the natural environment dimension and provides justification for further research. This research provides one model to be considered and expanded upon in future research efforts in this area, and supports the need for further attention to the use of multiple dimensions of attachment and their associations with community well-being.

This thesis examines the nature of amenity migration, its effects and related planning strategies and practices through a case study of the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) and surrounding environs. The goal of this study is to provide a descriptive overview of amenity migration in relation to the RMOW and region, primarily from the perspectives of selected key stakeholders as well as documentation from several RMOW and regional sources. For some time, the RMOW has been known as a world class destination resort and a progressive leader in various aspects of planning and sustainability. Interviews with sixteen key stakeholders revealed a range of familiarity with the concept of amenity migration and considerable knowledge about economic, social and environmental consequences. The concept of amenity migration was not used in RMOW and regional planning strategies and practices, raising some question about its conceptualization. A major effect of amenity migration was the lack of affordable housing, with subsequent local and regional effects. Significant planning measures perceived as effective included the Whistler Housing Authority, Vision 2020 and a regional growth strategy, currently under development. The study identifies the importance of a regional framework for strategic planning and the need for more research, in particular, to enable mountain communities to track their amenity migrants. Two key issues emerged: whether a “resort community” is viable; and the role of planners in relation to serving the diverse interests of stakeholders in these locales. The thesis concludes with implications regarding the continued use of the concept of amenity migration and the importance of the concept for planners, policy development and planning practice related to the phenomenon.

This thesis examines the nature of amenity migration, its effects and related planning strategies and practices through a case study of the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) and surrounding environs. The goal of this study is to provide a descriptive overview of amenity migration in relation to the RMOW and region, primarily from the perspectives of selected key stakeholders as well as documentation from several RMOW and regional sources. For some time, the RMOW has been known as a world class destination resort and a progressive leader in various aspects of planning and sustainability. Interviews with sixteen key stakeholders revealed a range of familiarity with the concept of amenity migration and considerable knowledge about economic, social and environmental consequences. The concept of amenity migration was not used in RMOW and regional planning strategies and practices, raising some question about its conceptualization. A major effect of amenity migration was the lack of affordable housing, with subsequent local and regional effects. Significant planning measures perceived as effective included the Whistler Housing Authority, Vision 2020 and a regional growth strategy, currently under development. The study identifies the importance of a regional framework for strategic planning and the need for more research, in particular, to enable mountain communities to track their amenity migrants. Two key issues emerged: whether a “resort community” is viable; and the role of planners in relation to serving the diverse interests of stakeholders in these locales. The thesis concludes with implications regarding the continued use of the concept of amenity migration and the importance of the concept for planners, policy development and planning practice related to the phenomenon.

The American West, once characterized by open spaces, low population densities, and the dominance of primary sector activities, is experiencing high rates of population growth related to amenity migration. Those same natural amenities that attract migration are often degraded by housing growth and associated development; however the extent of impacts and the specific features of the environment that attract amenity migration are poorly understood. This change in land use was investigated by first examining the impacts of exurbanization on three ecosystem indicators (fire hazard, water availability, and distance effects of houses and roads) and secondly by considering the socio-cultural and aesthetic drivers of amenity migration in the Sonoita Plain, Arizona, USA. When the impacts of houses and roads on ecosystem function were considered, 98% of exurban areas were "highly" or "very highly" impacted, compared to 100% for suburban areas and 35% for rural areas. These results were striking because exurban areas have impacts on ecosystem function comparable to those of suburban areas, despite the fact that they support significantly lower population densities. The importance of privacy in the spatial distribution of exurban development was examined through GIS viewshed analysis. Desire for privacy was manifested in the home locations selected by exurbanites, with the large majority of homes located where the inhabitants see few, if any, neighbors. Scenic beauty is a common pull factor for amenity and this study examined three visual quality metrics (naturalness, visual scale and complexity) in relation to the location of exurban houses. Exurban households see significantly more vegetation, more rugged terrain, and a larger viewshed than would be expected if they were randomly distributed. There is evidence that visual complexity throughout the viewshed may be more important than seeing the very highest peaks. These results call into question the use of county-level scales of analysis for the study of landscape preferences, which may miss key landscape aesthetic drivers of preference. Amenity drivers have important implications for the distribution of development and can inform growth strategies designed to minimize negative ecological impacts and protect visual quality of the environment.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Oregon, 2008. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-139). Also available online.