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Browsing by Author "Provo, John"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Civic Tinkering in a Small City: Imaginaries and Intersections of Art, Place and Marginality
    Tate, Anthony Scott (Virginia Tech, 2012-03-30)
    The purpose of this ethnographic case study was to explore the construction and alteration of Roanoke Virginia's cultural imaginary, as well as the engagement of marginal groups and their concerns in those processes. This research examined these issues through the experiences of key actors involved with the creation of Roanoke's first city-wide arts and cultural plan and the creation and growth of the Roanoke-based Marginal Arts Festival (MAF). Cities around the globe are increasingly engaged in transnational projects of place identification, reconfiguration, and attraction: attracting capital, residents, workers, tourists and attention (Cronin & Hetherington, 2008; Hague, 2005; Jensen, 2005, 2007; Pine & Gilmore, 1999; Zukin 1995). Moreover, cities undertake various kinds of identity projects: on-going, dynamic processes through which spaces are produced and reproduced by conscious strategies of place making and identity building (Nyseth & Viken, 2009). Such initiatives are concerted efforts to establish or extend a particular idea, or imaginary, of a city. This study focused on one kind of urban identity endeavor that has become widespread during the past two decades: the effort to shape and market a creative, culture-rich place, to project a specific urban cultural imaginary. This analysis also responded to a straightforward problem, that of the manner through which people, in places pursuing arts and culture as a primary focus for development, come to terms with differing understandings of art and its role in development. This study identified four principal future paths for the analysis of cultural imaginaries and the practice of cultural development: studying and supporting civic tinkering activities, recognizing the relevance of localized imaginaries and urban identity projects, valuing full participation in the project of the city, and conducting place-specific and critical analyses.
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    The Economic Impact of Agency 229: An examination of industry and community impacts
    Travis, Elli; Alwang, Albert; Olberding, Beth; Lyon-Hill, Sarah; Elliott-Engel, Jeremy; Provo, John (Virginia Tech. Office of Economic Development, 2018-01)
    The social and economic impacts of Agency 229 on the Commonwealth of Virginia are vast and diverse. As a state-funded entity, legislative bodies often ask Agency 229 to illustrate those impacts. Currently, 229 faculty assess research and extension programming using quantitative metrics such as head-counts at trainings and research dollars awarded. Outcomes of activities are communicated qualitatively through impact statements that provide summary information on trainings and anecdotal evidence of benefits to attendees and those who benefit from direct technical assistance. Occasionally, researchers will team up with the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics to assess the potential economic impact of an innovation. Others who focus on agricultural products sold through nationwide and commodity markets will compare yield gains over time and attribute a portion of gains to research and extension efforts. The numerous media headlines and narratives describing the localized impacts of research and technical assistance initiatives have been another powerful approach to telling Agency 229’s story. As the agency looks ahead, however, the growing trend for more data-driven funding justifications challenge Agency 229 to illustrate its economic impacts in different, more comprehensive ways that connect its activities to industry and community development in the commonwealth. This type of evaluation can further help prioritize resources and improve programming. Recently, Virginia’s state legislature released a mandate, directing Agency 229 to develop a strategy for leveraging state investment with industry partnerships that “result in technological and scientific advancements needed to grow the state’s agricultural and natural resource economy.” Moreover, Agency 229 has to consider its role in university-led initiatives such as the Virginia Agriculture and Natural Resources Initiative: Growing our future with public-private partnership and the Global Systems Science Complex and Destination Area. These initiatives offer opportunities to leverage resources and increase the agency’s overall economic impact. This study assesses the current impacts of Agency 229 as they relate to the economy of Commonwealth of Virginia and provides recommendations on how to leverage activities and funding to increase those impacts in the future. We begin by providing an overview of Agency 229 and different approaches to studying the economic impact of university entities. Many approaches exist; however, because impacts of such a large entity can be difficult to quantify or even qualify, not many institutions have endeavored to conduct a large comprehensive study of this type. We approach the assessment of the economic impact of Agency 229 using an industry and community case study lens. By looking at the influence of 229 extension and research innovations have on individual sectors of the economy and specific communities, we can uncover many of the causal mechanisms through which 229 activities affect change and in turn facilitate economic growth and development. We first review five industries that contribute significantly to Virginia’s agricultural economy and assess Agency 229 research and extension efforts as they relate to those sectors. We then take four communities located across the commonwealth as examples to identify social and economic impacts that VCE and Agency 229 research have at the county level.
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    An Exploration of Emerging Collaborative Conservation Strategies to Support Sustainable Development in the United States
    Kimmel, Courtney E. (Virginia Tech, 2011-03-22)
    Completed as a series of manuscripts, this dissertation reflects four aspects of my research into the intersections of conservation and sustainable development as practiced by conservation land trusts and community landcare groups, as well as by faculty and staff at land grant universities. The first paper included in this dissertation explores "Conservation 2.0" strategies being developed and employed by land trust across the US to integrate social and economic development goals into their conservation missions. The second paper explores one of these Conservation 2.0 strategies in greater detail, in particular the support of ecological entrepreneurship by land trusts and partners they involve in "ecological entrepreneurship support networks". The third piece emerged out of five years of engaged research with Catawba Landcare as one community landcare group in the region. As a means to capture the development path and history of the organization as well as to facilitate its path forward, I developed a dynamic content management system (CMS) based website for the group, which is explained in Chapter 4. The fourth and final piece of this dissertation is a collaboratively written piece that examines the relationship between Catawba Landcare and Virginia Tech using four theoretical lenses for community capacity building, ultimately proposing one engagement strategy for land grant universities to build and strengthen social infrastructure in their neighboring communities. In total, this collection of works chronicles a larger endeavor to explore place-based sustainability and the role of institutions and civil society in constructing a more sustainable future.
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    Intra-Regional Economic Connectivity: The Role of Industry Clusters in Bridging the Urban-Rural Divide
    McFarland, Christiana K. (Virginia Tech, 2020-04-14)
    This research explores an alternative path for economic development via local connections to regional economies. It presents new analysis of the potential and circumstances under which county level industry clusters can be strengthened by connecting to regional clusters – networks of businesses, labor pools, etc., whose linkages cross local and even state jurisdictional boundaries. Specifically, this analysis examines how different types of industry clusters and types of urban and rural communities within regions respond to intra-regional connectivity. Independent-samples t-tests are conducted to assess whether significant differences in the annualized county-cluster employment growth rate (2010-2016) exist between connected and not-connected county-clusters overall, in different types of communities (metropolitan, micropolitan, rural adjacent and rural remote) and across types of industry clusters. The results suggest that intra-regional economic connectivity has a strong, positive association with county-cluster employment growth. These results are particularly pronounced for more rural communities but are present across county types, including metropolitan. The magnitude of the economic impact derived from connectivity with the regional economy varies by industry cluster. The results suggest an alternative approach to cluster-based economic development strategies that more strategically accounts for and bolsters connectivity. Policy recommendations for how to apply an intra-regional connectivity framework to narrow the urban-rural divide, as well as several regional profiles, are offered.
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    Metropolitan Areas in 1990 vs. Today- How Different Are They? An Examination of Changes in Built Form and Resident Characteristics
    Walter, Caitlin Siobhan (Virginia Tech, 2018-06-05)
    The metropolitan area form has changed over time, transitioning from one central city surrounded by suburban bedroom communities to regions that possess several self-sufficient centers of activity. While these changes have occurred, metropolitan areas are commonly compared using the simple city-suburb distinction. The changing nature of the suburbs has been discussed in terms of changes in the built environment as well as changes in the residents; most recently, anecdotal media reports have suggested that preferences of the Millennial generation (now roughly 25-to-34-year-olds) may be influencing this shift. There are two main goals of this dissertation: to explore how density has changed in the context of the overall metropolitan area, as well as to explore whether the characteristics of residents in metro areas have changed. A quantitative approach is used, with an analysis that explores changes in density over time as well as a potential relationship today between density and the characteristics of the residents, including whether the Millennial generation has any relationship to changes, if they exist. Findings from the analysis indicate that the suburbs-city distinction is no longer relevant, and density is changing at a similar rate in both types of geographies. This suggests that density is a more appropriate metric to gauge metropolitan form changes. Further, characteristics of the population related to density have not changed since 1990, suggesting that changes in density do not have a relationship to an increase in influence by members of one generation.
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    Planning Local and Regional Development: Exploring Network Signal, Sites, and Economic Opportunity Dynamics
    Flanery, Trevor H. (Virginia Tech, 2016-10-31)
    Urban development planning efforts are challenged to enhance coevolving spatial and socioeconomic systems that exist and interact at multiple scales. While network and simulation sciences have created new tools and theories suitable for urban studies, models of development are not yet suitable for local and regional development planning. A case study of the City of Roanoke, Virginia, grounded network development theories of scaling, engagement, and collective perception function, as well as network forms. By advancing urban development network theory, frameworks for urban simulation like agent-based models take more coherent shape. This in turn better positions decision-making and planning practitioners to adapt, transform, or renew local network-oriented development systems, and conceptualize a framework for computational urban development planning for regions and localities.
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    Regional Economic Recovery and Resilience Toolkit
    Ashqar, Huthaifa; Chon, Chris; Gilmer, Lydia; McMillan, Alexis; Nagorniuk, Anna; Walbridge, Tia; O'Connor, Ryan; Woodson, Cat; Lyon-Hill, Sarah; Provo, John; Tate, Scott; Jackson, Zach; Posthumous, Ashley (Virginia Tech, 2022-03)
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    Rural Retreat Train Depot Stakeholder Visioning
    Gould, Maeve; Hesenjan, Faruk; Lyon-Hill, Sarah; Mawyer, Adam; Onopa, Nick; Provo, John (Virginia Tech. Office of Economic Development, 2016)
    In spring 2016 the Rural Retreat Depot Foundation commissioned the Virginia Tech Office of Economic Development to assist in the visioning of the historic Rural Retreat Train Depot. This technical assistance included gathering background data on town and county demographics and industry trends, research on case studies and best practices, interviews with similar train depots, and conducting a stakeholder visioning meeting to determine possible uses of the train depot and examine how the train depot’s new function can best benefit the community. The Rural Retreat train depot was originally built in the 1850’s by the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad and was both a freight and passenger station. It burned down during the Civil War and was rebuilt in 1867 in the Italianate architectural style, and is one of only three depots in the nation remaining of similar design. In the mid-1900’s the depot was no longer used as a train station and was sold to a company that used it as a warehouse. Over the years, the building began to slowly deteriorate and the Rural Retreat Depot Foundation acquired the building in 2011. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. The Rural Retreat Train Depot Foundation formed to acquire, restore and manage Rural Retreat’s historic train depot as a means of preserving the culture of the region. The foundation is a non-profit organization whose board members include local business owners, a local food producer, local government officials and retired community members, many of whom have lived in Rural Retreat their entire lives. Each board member has a unique skill-set or interest such as music, local food, historic preservation, festivals, and Appalachian crafts. The foundation’s restoration master plan has two components: exterior restoration to the 1949 remodel condition and interior restoration to create an attractive, comfortable community space that will serve as the centerpiece for the town. The exterior restoration has largely been completed and interior restoration is ongoing. The train depot is currently home to a farmers market, available for community meetings, and is a versatile event rental space for family reunions, weddings, professional retreats, musical performances, and so on. The remainder of this report is broken up into four sections: 1) a review of select train depots in Appalachia and their reuses, 2) an overview of Rural Retreat regional data, 3) a summary of the April 27, 2016 Rural Retreat Visioning meeting, and 4) a synthesis of possible reuses for the train depot and recommendations.