This research examines the perceptions and attitudes of residents in five rural communities located in the Hilltowns of Western Massachusetts: Ashfield, Chesterfield, Conway, Goshen, and Williamsburg. The research aims to explore the divide between local residents’ strongly held support for private property rights and a concomitant desire to maintain the qualities that contribute to the social, ecological, and aesthetic experience of a rural town, including a viable farm and forest economy. Previous research in the same project utilized mailed, written surveys. In this case, in-depth, in-person interviews were conducted with ten residents of the study area in order to complement the breadth of information gleaned from these earlier studies. The research goal was to inform planning efforts that strive to balance the preservation of rural character with growth and change. Questions were asked to ascertain the individual’s connection to the rural community, including length of residency, occupation, and other demographic variables. Further questions were posed to learn how participants felt that landowner rights to develop property and government intervention to preserve land could be effectively balanced. Results showed that landowners’ desire to retain their property rights remains in conflict with their wish to see their communities remain rural in the face of new development. Medium-term residents may be the most motivated group to get involved in ways to balance landscape change and development with a need to preserve town character. According to study participants, local governments should focus their efforts on voluntary, cooperative measures. Such measures should ideally minimize bureaucracy and maximize a multi-jurisdictional approach in considering a variety of techniques to resolve tough land-use conflicts. Local land trusts emerged as the best-positioned entity to forge cooperative ventures with farmers, landowners, and others in protecting the places of greatest value to those who live and work in the rural landscape. The need for education and communication was vitally expressed. This study sheds new light on the different nuanced and sometimes conflicting attitudes about preserving the rural landscape, but also offers hope for solutions based on collaborations between local governments, land trusts, and local residents.

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Inner ring suburbs are vulnerable as they face continual downward pressure amidst increasingly complex post-industrial regional dynamics. Many suburban policymakers focus on housing and commercial development when considering ways to improve their localities through the built environment; they often overlook the potential benefits of community-oriented infrastructure -- namely public libraries, neighborhood recreation facilities, and community festivals/events -- as a catalyst for encouraging economic development and neighborhood social capital. This study asks whether inner ring suburbs that offer vibrant community institutions exhibit greater levels of resilience capacity than those with less vibrant community facilities. Across the country government officials target community institutions for service reduction and/or closure in high-profile proposals to balance budgets in a tight economy. In a number of high-profile urban library budget fights, community protestors cite their library's functions as a safe environment for children after school to socialize and study, a place for public internet access and engaging programming, and as the hub of the community. Such accounts offer a glimpse into the value of community institutions in the making of place. Suburbs are competing to gain and maintain their base of residents in a highly mobile and competitive environment. Tiebout (1956) theorizes that this ease of mobility allows people to act as consumers who choose the community package of services/amenities that best meets their budget and preferences. The group of community institutions at the center of this study - public libraries, parks and recreation facilities, and community festivals/events -- are part of a wider architecture of local community infrastructure that composes a community's package of services and amenities. Public schools are an important element of that community infrastructure and the one that is most often considered to add value to suburban localities. Although public schools are unquestionably a vital community institution, this dissertation challenges the narrative that school quality is the prime suburban value-generator by measuring the value to local resilience of school quality against the vibrancy of these other kinds of community institutions that may nurture community life in different ways. This work addresses three main gaps in the literature. Work measuring the value of, and understanding the effects of, community institutions in local places is scant. Studies linking resilience capacity to a place's institutional fabric often overlook public-oriented, taxpayer-funded, place-based facilities in favor of an emphasis on non-profit organizations. A regional approach with a focus on effects in inner ring suburbs is rare. Through a mixed methods approach utilizing exploratory data analysis and qualitative content analysis on the inner ring Pennsylvania suburbs surrounding Philadelphia, this research considers the effects of community institutions on each of three previously identified resilience components: economic strength, socio-demographic appeal, and community connectivity. Results suggest that townships with middling or low school quality may be supporting forms of community institutions other than public schools as a way to increase appeal when the schools alone are not a sufficient draw. Furthermore, townships possibly gain resilience value from promoting community institutions in an active way. Other findings shed new light on people-oriented approaches to inner ring suburban resilience and sustainable regional development that may be gaining relevance in the context of 21st century place dynamics. / Geography

Dans la région himalayenne du Dolpo au Népal, les routes vont au-delà de leur simple utilité fonctionnelle : elles s’insèrent dans un tissu socioculturel et ontologique dense, où les dimensions humaines et non-humaines s’entrecroisent. Cette recherche, ancrée dans une démarche ethnographique, explore non seulement les promesses et paradoxes actuels de ces projets infrastructurels, mais aussi comment les Dolpopa, ces habitants confrontés quotidiennement à ces transformations, imaginent et perçoivent le futur de leur vallée à travers ce prisme d’infrastructures. Bien plus que des vecteurs de développement, les infrastructures routières au Dolpo révèlent une toile où avantages économiques et défis sociaux, culturels, et religieux s’entremêlent, exposant un spectre d’émotions locales naviguant entre espoir et inquiétude. Les témoignages recueillis illustrent comment les routes, tout en promettant des avantages tangibles, peuvent aussi entraîner des conséquences inattendues. Cette étude insiste sur l’importance d’une approche inclusive et holistique de la planification, qui prend en compte les dimensions émotionnelles, culturelles, religieuses et les éléments sacrés du territoire. Elle montre aussi l’importance cruciale de la religion dans les débats d’aménagement, en particulier dans des régions comme le Dolpo. En fin de compte, cette recherche vise à offrir une perspective équilibrée des enjeux de l’infrastructure au Dolpo, soulignant la nécessité d’adopter une vision qui englobe à la fois les dimensions humaines et non-humaines pour une compréhension complète des impacts des projets d’infrastructure. / In the Himalayan region of Dolpo in Nepal, roads transcend their mere functional utility: they weave into a dense sociocultural and ontological fabric where human and non-human dimensions intertwine. This research, rooted in an ethnographic approach, not only delves into the current promises and paradoxes of these infrastructural projects but also explores how the Dolpopa— locals who daily experience these transformations—envision and perceive the future of their valley through the lens of infrastructure. Far more than just conduits of development, the road infrastructures in Dolpo unfurl a canvas where economic benefits and social, cultural, and religious challenges interlace, revealing a spectrum of local emotions ranging from hope to apprehension. The testimonies gathered highlight how roads, while promising tangible benefits, can also usher in unforeseen consequences. This study emphasizes the importance of an inclusive and holistic approach to planning that takes into account emotional, cultural, religious dimensions, and the sacred aspects of the territory. It also underscores the paramount role of religion in planning debates, especially in regions like Dolpo. Ultimately, this research seeks to provide a balanced insight into the stakes of infrastructure in Dolpo, underscoring the need to embrace a viewpoint that encompasses both human and non-human dimensions for a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of infrastructural projects.