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Suburbanization of the City: An examination of the built environment characteristics and social life of German Village, a historic urban neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio

Adair, Matthew Bailey
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1492702928076232

Abstract Details

2017, Master of City and Regional Planning, Ohio State University, City and Regional Planning.
German Village is typical of many inner-city areas, in that it enjoyed growth and vitality from its genesis in the mid-nineteenth century until a period of decline in the mid-twentieth century. With high vacancy rates and low-property values, parts of the neighborhood were even suggested for demolition in urban renewal schemes. But in 1960, the German Village Society formed to advocate for the preservation of the historic structures and for the creation of a protected historic district. In 1963, the City of Columbus established the German Village Commission to regulate demolition and exterior alteration of structures within the boundaries. Since then, property values have risen and the district has transformed into a highly desirable neighborhood—a process that could be characterized as gentrification. The socio-economic impacts of gentrification have been explored by a variety of scholars (see Lee, Slater and Wiley, 2013). The case of German Village, a neighborhood that has been gentrified for over half a century, offers an interesting case study into a central question of this thesis: Is there a new phase of post-gentrification that suggests such urban neighborhoods are becoming suburban? More specifically, has German Village adopted physical and socio-cultural characteristics similar to those we attribute to the suburbs? The approach to this research advances a developing theory of suburban form and culture that looks past traditional definitions of a suburb to uncover a more nuanced understanding of both the land use, socioeconomic demographic characteristics and lifestyle of suburbanization. I find that German Village has embraced a suburban lifestyle as indicted by its shift toward homeownership and privatism as indicated by the proliferation of private fences and pools as well as a stress on the home as a commodity and symbol of social status. The physical features of the neighborhood have changed to embrace a more autocentric lifestyle, adding garages and curb cuts. In addition, the neighborhood has become more single rather than mixed-use with an emphasis on the single-family home, a similar emphasis found in the suburbs. German Village, once a mixed use and heterogeneous immigrant community, has become a homogenous suburban environment largely for middle and upper-class homeowners.
Bernadette Hanlon, PhD (Advisor)
Kyle Ezell, MCRP (Committee Member)
182 p.
Urban Planning
suburbs, suburbanization, urban, urbanity, suburbanism, deterritorialization, German Village, Columbus, Ohio, historic preservation, adaptive reuse, urban planning, urban geography, land use, neighborhood change, gentrification, revitalization

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Adair, M. B. (2017). Suburbanization of the City: An examination of the built environment characteristics and social life of German Village, a historic urban neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1492702928076232

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Adair, Matthew. Suburbanization of the City: An examination of the built environment characteristics and social life of German Village, a historic urban neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio. 2017. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1492702928076232.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Adair, Matthew. "Suburbanization of the City: An examination of the built environment characteristics and social life of German Village, a historic urban neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1492702928076232

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1492702928076232
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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.