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.