Doctoral Dissertation Research: The distribution of costs and opportunities in amenity development communities

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This project investigates population changes in communities that shift to economies centered around national amenities. Over the last four decades some regions have moved from dependence on extractive industries, such as ranching, farming, mining, or logging, to economies centered around natural amenities. This transition is accompanied by population change, which can have widespread effects on socioeconomic, cultural, political, and environmental aspects of a community. This research will investigate conditions under which amenity development fosters gentrification, the effects of amenity development and resulting population shifts on the distribution of opportunity and influence, and practices that lead communities down alternative paths. Findings of this research will help communities identify opportunities and strategies to transition to an economy centered around amenity development while minimizing negative impacts. Data for this project will be collected through interviews in three locations: a long-time amenity destination, a new amenity destination, and an emerging amenity destination. Informants will be chosen to reflect three kinds of amenity development: bedroom communities, tourism destinations, and retirement destinations. Data will be coded using grounded theory coding methods. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.