Affordable Housing Challenges and Local Responses in Rural Pennylvania
Open Access
Author:
Mcginnis, Mary Elizabeth
Area of Honors:
Geography
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Christopher Stiles Fowler, Thesis Supervisor Roger Michael Downs, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
affordable housing Pennsylvania community rural
Abstract:
This thesis analyzes the responses of rural communities to affordable housing challenges to understand how these communities express values and community identities. These responses are combined with the right to the city and understandings of rurality to derive the "right to the rural." The right to the rural, like the right to the city, supports the democratization of the creation and use of space, but accounts for the rural setting by specifying who has the right to the rural: those who are considered, by the community, to belong to the community. Three Pennsylvania counties were chosen as study areas: Bradford, Cambria, and Centre. They were selected to represent some historical traits and current changes happening within the state, such as an aging population, the presence of universities, and the recent growth of the natural gas industry. The experiences of and values expressed by people in the three county communities demonstrate the need for the context-specific right to the rural. Additionally, each county faces limitations to meeting the housing needs of those considered to belong to the community. Many of these limitations, such as an older housing stock and poor infrastructure, are primarily due to the rural setting. An acknowledgement of these limitations is incorporated into the right to the rural.
