Partnership for Watauga's Future

Here is the website for PWF. Check out the Conference at the Broyhill on April 18. It's going to be imperative in helping me make my project cohesive.

Partnership for Watauga's Future
High Country Forum on Livable Communities

(Barely) Working Bibliography

Blakely, Edward and Snyder, Mary. “Forting Up: Gated Communities in the United

States.” Journal of Architectural Planning and Research 15:1 (1998):1-13

“Davidson, NC Houses and Residents”. City-Data Online.

<>

“Gated Communities.” Wikipedia: The free Encyclopedia. 2006. 20 April 2006

<>

Newman, Oscar. “Defensible Space: A new physical planning tool for urban

Revitalization.” Journal of the American Planning Association vol. 61 no. 2

(1995): 1-8

U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division on Sustainable Development.

Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. Agenda 21. Conference on

Environment and Development. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 3 to 14 June 1992.

Williams, Marguerite. “Growth in Davidson: Discovering and Sustaining

Ourselves.” Presentation with power point slides on the town of Davidson: The

Smart Growth Award

Williams, Marguerite. Interviewed by Mary Horton. 4 February 2006. Interview 1.

Davidson, North Carolina.

Zillow.Com, online Real Estate Information. 2006. <>

Search.z?addrstrthood=carriage+run&citystatezip=Raeligh%2C+27614&mode=

Browse >

Real Project Proposal

Our Growth, Smart Growth

Two years ago, while taking Geographic Perspectives on Human Behavior with Roger Winsor, I wrote a research paper on Davidson, North Carolina, the winner of the national Smart Growth Award several years ago. One of my dearest friend’s mother, Marguerite Williams, happens to be the vice-mayor of this lovely little town. This relationship enabled me to take a sort of personal guided tour of the process of a small town in southern NC striving for sustainability; not only environmentally, but economically and culturally as well. As I learned more and more about Davidson, I found a great interest in the maintenance of life quality within the dynamic of growth and sustainability in small towns as they face outside economic pressure.

With a specific focus on small-town development, I intend to explore the implication of such growth on life quality. The goal here is to formulate a paper that focuses on learning to learn from one another. What has Davidson done that could be equally or differently affective here in the High Country? I will use my research paper as a base for a case study, with a follow up visit and report on Davidson’s new progress, problems, etc. My thesis will be a combination of an emphasis on the cooperation of local communities with each other to learn sustainable development in their own context, and the importance of activism in maintaining life quality in the small-town setting.

I will also be attending a conference later in April called the High Country Forum on Livable Communities sponsored by The Partnership for Watauga's Future, the ASU Energy Center, and the Harold and Mazie Jones Levenson Program on Growth and Change in Western North Carolina. This will be a forum where “Award winning planners from Davidson, NC will share insights on how small communities can maintain a high quality of life while attracting responsible development. Regional decision makers and community members are invited to learn more about innovative approaches to achieve livable communities in the face of growth and change.” (From an email invite). My report on this conference should greatly tie together my ideas of overall sustainability in the context of small town growth and relating it to Davidson, NC and Boone as well.

Initial Proposal--what I talked about in class

Community Involvement, Spirituality, and Local Activism

As I tried to articulate the second week of classes, this idea of community involvement strikes a chord with me. When I began to think of how to get people more involved in things like town meetings and local activism, I faced myself with a question: What is keeping people that want to be active from doing so? And what can I do to help them?

I came up with some (scattered) ideas: money, time, circumstance, lack of childcare, intimidation, the feeling of not having an impact on one’s environment, language barriers, and many other ideas. So what can the community do…to help the community overcome some of these obstacles. I came up with two ideas. What if volunteers from school or organizations like High Country Amigos helped bring local latinos a translator to town meetings? What if local babysitters, church groups, etc, helped provide childcare for parents at these sort of things? I then began to think of the idea of the church involvement further.

I am not an extremely religious person, but I do believe that spirituality, God, a good conscience, and whatever else have a common ground as far as the environment, equity, and these sort of things go. Should not then institutions for each realm work together in attaining such ideals they ascribe to?

What does spirituality have to offer an effort for sustainability?

I thumbed through a few books about this idea, and realized:

I simply cannot come to a conclusion on anything new in one semester as far as this goes. (At least not one I can articulate well enough for my Senior Project)

I will probably continue to formulate my ideas on this topic for the rest of my life.

And so I decided to focus on something I have a little more experience with, something a little more tangible and attainable for me, right now.

Back to the drawing board

Just a little bit about me...

Mary C. Horton
MH55032
Majors: IDS-Sustainable Development
Spanish

My name is Katy Horton and I have been a student here at Appalachian State since August 2002. When I began studying here, I don’t think I really had any idea of what I wanted to focus on. I took courses in Psychology, Political Science, and Communications, loving them all, but not exactly finding an inner passion for any of them. I then decided on majoring in International Business. I enjoy the Spanish language and have always been interested in foreign affairs and culture, especially those with Central and South America, so I thought that joining this with a minor in Spanish would be what was best for me. (This minor eventually, and circumstantially turned into a major just this semester). After four semesters in the business school, I decided that something had to change. It wasn’t that I didn’t or don’t enjoy the aspects of IB, it just didn’t really do it for me.

I knew that I had a passion for connecting with people, for culture, and anthropology. I care deeply about my fellow man and for the Earth that we all share. I am interested in knowing why we, as people, Americans, students, whatever, are the way we are. I have the same interest in understanding others in the same light. I tend to see life as a mostly grey area, as circumstantial, and relative. Because of this I have an appreciation for many different kinds of ideas, people, and cultures, no matter how contradicting they might be.

Then I came to the IDS Department.

I am a very scattered person. I am interested in and involved in many different things at once. My whole life has been this way. There are few things, however, that I can pinpoint my exact feelings on. I know we, as humans, face a serious challenge today. Not only is that challenge to do right or to “save the world” without absolutely destroying each other, but also, to stay somewhat sane while doing it. I am not sure that the latter is not equally as difficult.

To me, one of the greatest ideas is coexistence. (Cooperation, mediation, harmony, etc.) In my life, I hope to begin help create a coexistence between the areas in my life and others’ that pull us in a different directions; Individualism, self-interest, and maximizing potential, working together, the idea of the greater good, etc. Concentrating in Sustainable Development seems to be something that will perpetuate within me, this passion, or striving (although I find it hard to articulate my goals) to create such harmony in all aspects of life (social, economic, environmental, political, personal, etc.). So here I am. All tangled up in ideas, fears, ‘isms’, and assignments, trying desperately, and with a positive attitude, to work this out.

Coursework and Interests:

I have an interest in Planning and Development as well as the cultural implications that result. Along with courses in Economics, business, Spanish, and IDS (of course), I have taken several geography classes as well.

Sooooo late.

First of all, may I formally apoligize to my classmates. This is all so late.