Early-Stage Gentrification in America’s Heartland: Analyzing College-Age Experiences of Rapid Transformation inside Fayetteville, Arkansas
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Fayetteville, Arkansas is the largest city in one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States – Northwest Arkansas. Projected to grow from its current population of 86,000 to 143,000 people in 2040, Fayetteville is adding 48 new residents every week. Using Fayetteville as a case study, this qualitative study explores individual and community perceptions in smaller American cities experiencing high growth and subsequent gentrification. Twenty-six one-hour-long interviews with 13 Fayetteville residents (two meetings each) aged 18 to 25 conducted between July and October 2018 reveal the student population’s pressured and competitive interactions when searching and securing rental housing along with their perceptions of the area’s socioeconomic changes before, during, and after college. This research uses qualitative data analysis on frequencies and themes to conclude that the University of Arkansas and the area’s Fortune 500 companies have reinforced Fayetteville’s state of early gentrification as indicated by a constrained housing market, a shift in demographics, and the transformation of the social and political landscape of the city. This study addresses the assertion by scholars Japonica Brown-Saracino, Lyn Macgregor, and Michael Barton that recent gentrification scholarship is limited by focusing on larger, post-gentrified, and geographically-biased cities such as San Francisco, California, and Boston, Massachusetts. This study, intended for academic scholars and policy advocates alike, urges further research on early gentrification trends and reactions inside smaller, rapidly growing cities such as Bend, Oregon, and St. George, Utah along with those with a significant university presence such as Fort Collins, Colorado, and Boise, Idaho.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | May 13, 2019 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Volavong, Sean Michael |
|---|---|
| Primary advisor | McAdam, Douglas |
| Advisor | Chan, Deland |
| Advisor | Hurd, Clayton |
| Degree granting institution | Stanford University, Program on Urban Studies |
Subjects
| Subject | Stanford University |
|---|---|
| Subject | Urban Studies |
| Subject | Program on Urban Studies |
| Subject | Fayetteville |
| Subject | Arkansas |
| Subject | University of Arkansas |
| Subject | Northwest Arkansas |
| Subject | Gentrification |
| Subject | Qualitative |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Volavong, Sean M. “Early-Stage Gentrification in America’s Heartland: Analyzing College-Age Experiences of Rapid Transformation inside Fayetteville, Arkansas.” Stanford University, Stanford University, 2019, pp. 1–131. Stanford Digital Repository, purl.stanford.edu/xs414wd0574.
Collection
Stanford University Urban Studies Capstone Projects and Theses
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- Contact
- seanvolavong@alumni.stanford.edu
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