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UVM Theses and Dissertations

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Format:
Print
Author:
Searl, Stephen A. W.
Dept./Program:
Natural Resources
Year:
2009
Degree:
MS
Abstract:
Rural communities have experienced significant economic, social and demographic changes over the last several decades. As their dependence on the suburban and urban core increases, their reliance on natural resource-based production and extraction diminishes. Yet these macro-level changes have transformed more than the economies of rural areas. It has led to a rise in tourism and recreation participation, growth in public and private services, an increase in real estate values, a decline in local social relations and civic engagement, a stronger environmental ethic, and an inmigration of relative newcomers. This thesis focuses on one group of these in-migrants, second homeowners, and their perspectives on community involvement and attachment, resident relations, and environmental protection and planning in two rural communities, Barton and Stowe, Vermont.
According to the literature, second home development and second homeowners are more likely to adversely affect rural communities than benefit them. This study seeks to understand who these second homeowners are and to what extent they perceive themselves as benefiting their own place and space -socially and environmentally -as opposed to permanent residents and the larger community. The findings suggest that knowing where second homeowners reside and gaining an understanding of the socioeconomic and cultural context of their residence can help inform how they might interact with their community and how involved they might be in planning for and protecting the natural environment. The second homeowners portrayed in this thesis are a diverse group ofpeople that are drawn to the two towns for very different reasons: Stowe second homeowners to participate and be involved in social, cultural and recreational opportunities that exist in a cosmopolitan and high-amenity place like Stowe, and; Barton second homeowners to retreat and escape from the social, cultural and environmental responsibilities oftheir permanent residence.