MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2019, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Community Planning

We have entered a new phase in our ever-evolving relationship with our urban waterways. Unprecedented urban growth and dramatic changes in climate are causing us to see the interconnectedness between the health of our people and the health of our natural systems. Flooding, water pollution, habitat loss and endangered species have created a sense of urgency to find novel ways to approach these urban ecological issues -- and are necessitating greater levels of collaboration between a wide range of professionals, including planners, engineers, landscape architects, ecologists, and others. Historically, when it comes to urban river redevelopment, urban planners have emphasized stronger physical connections between the public and the water. Landscape ecologists and hydrologists likewise pursued opportunities to connect fragmented watershed habitats (May 2006). The concept of “connection” has been espoused by both camps with very different meaning. These differing viewpoints can lead to competing goals. For planners, oft stated goals are increasing economic opportunity and improving quality of life. Ecologists, on the other hand, aim to restore natural river functions and strengthen resiliency of aquatic life. Multi-use, riverside developments represent a real-life example of this conflict. Such developments can contribute to urban vibrancy and can increase the tax base; they can also result in soil compaction and increased impervious surface, which can drive polluted runoff into rivers. This thesis will seek common ground between planning and ecology in the context of urban waterway redevelopment. Through a literature review, several questions will be answered, including: How has our relationship with our urban waterways evolved in the past two centuries, and how has this affected waterfront development? What are today's most pressing urban ecological issues? What are the traditional roles filled by planners and ecologists? What dynamics might be hindering collabo (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Conrad Kickert Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Christopher Auffrey Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, Arts Administration, Education and Policy

While cultural district development as an urban redevelopment strategy has received much attention in urban neighborhoods and cities in the United States, the policy-making process for cultural district development has been less examined. To offer a detailed and deeper understanding of the policy-making process, this dissertation study examined policy design and governance for two different cultural district development practices in Cleveland, Ohio. This study employed the case study methodology with multiple-case design enabling both in-depth investigation of each case and cross-case analysis. The data was collected through document analysis, media coverage review and semi-structured interviews with people who participated in each cultural district development practice. The findings of this study show that governance matters in policy design process for cultural district development as an urban redevelopment strategy and suggest some policy implications which can be applied to supporting non-profit arts and cultural organizations and institutions who participated in cultural district development as cultural actors. As examples of the policy implications, encouraging and supporting the cultural actors to engage in governance establishment for cultural district development and employ formal governance tools may be applied to increase their capacity and opportunity that can improve their benefits from cultural district development. Also, in terms of supporting the cultural actors participating cultural district development, offering ongoing technical assistance together with project grants may be more efficient than offering project grants only.

Committee: Margaret Wyszomirski (Advisor); Wayne Lawson (Committee Member); Ed Malecki (Committee Member); Shoshanah Goldberg-Miller (Committee Member) Subjects: Arts Management; Public Administration; Public Policy

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2005, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Community Planning

In 1968, riots broke-out across Washington, DC upon word of Martin Luther King Jr.'s death. These riots destroyed three separate neighborhoods, but nowhere was the devastation as great as in Columbia Heights. A once prominent neighborhood with a thriving business district, the riots turned Columbia Heights into a barren wasteland of burnt-out buildings and empty lots. Only recently has development come back to Columbia Heights. This paper set out to answer certain key questions: Why was development in Columbia Heights nonexistent for thirty years? Who was to blame? Why has development now begun in the neighborhood?

Committee: Michael Romanos (Advisor) Subjects: Urban and Regional Planning

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2024, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

During the course of the 20th century, the practice of memorialization experienced an evolution. In spaces where once victorious statues celebrating glory would have stood, now rise hollow voids, spaces waiting to be filled with the memory of the viewer—the participant. This thesis will explore this transition from memorialization to anti-memorialization and the sublime ability of the void as an architectural space to facilitate the memorialization of trauma. Instead of the memorialization of cultural or war trauma, application of the void and sublime memorialization techniques will be applied to ecological trauma through the creation of an American Industrial Heritage Trail and the development of an anchor site along that trail. The cumulative effect of the project is to establish a categorical means with which to interact with industrial ruins and brownfield sites and propose three elements necessary for industrial rehabilitation: regeneration, utilization, and memorialization.

Committee: Vincent Sansalone M.Arch. (Committee Member); Rebecca Williamson Ph.D. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Architecture

Bachelor of Sciences, Ohio University, 2024, Geography

Kansas City, Missouri (KCMO) is a city defined by divisions, none so damning as the racial and socioeconomical split produced by Troost Avenue, a former commercial district that has seen severe decline over the past 60 years due to redlining and racially restrictive housing covenants. In recent years, the city government of KCMO has made efforts to blur this divide by investing in properties directly adjacent to the avenue. Through public-private partnerships, these flagship properties have not only excelled in uplifting the economic status of Troost neighborhoods, but also rewriting the fabric of a historically marginalized community east of the avenue. Resident narratives, combined with census data, are evidence that the city has been successful in gentrifying the harsh racial divide at its heart. However, in a bid to correct the wrongs of the past, the city has created new inequalities and exacerbated the socioeconomic distress of long-time residents and small businesses along Troost Avenue. This case study delves into the urban planning history of KCMO and what narratives the city and property development firms have constructed to justify revitalization in Troost Avenue neighborhoods, and how these actions have impacted the existing community of Troost Avenue. The story is more complicated than gentrification alone, and this case study offers a more nuanced perspective on downtown revitalization as a leading cause of urban inequality.

Committee: Yeong-Hyun Kim (Advisor); Harold Perkins (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Geography; Urban Planning

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2021, Geography (Arts and Sciences)

Parkersburg, West Virginia is a city of 29,000 on the Ohio River. Parkersburg is a post-industrial city which has seen population and job loss consistently dating back to 1960. This thesis aspires to highlight Parkersburg's history, its current status, and revitalization efforts. Much of the results and discussion of this thesis is focused on infill development and its potential and implementation as a redevelopment tool. This thesis aims to expand on urban planning literature by focusing on a small-sized Appalachian city, in addition to expanding upon urban planning literature regarding revitalization. Recent revitalization efforts made by the city are evaluated, highlighted, and discussed throughout this document.

Committee: Harold Perkins (Advisor); Amy Lynch (Committee Member); Gaurav Sinha (Committee Member) Subjects: Geographic Information Science; Geography; Urban Planning

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, Environment and Natural Resources

What happens after low-income neighborhoods achieve environmental victories? Historically, low-income people of color live near environmental hazards. Dominant narratives on brownfield redevelopment, the redevelopment of abandoned industrial sites, highlight increased property value as a positive economic development outcome for homeowners and reduced urban blight in the neighborhood. However, economically disadvantaged residents living close to redeveloped brownfield sites struggle to afford higher rents as their neighborhoods become more desirable to young professionals and the middle class after redevelopment. As scholars and activists aim to achieve environmental justice, it is important to address the racial, economic, and health implications of brownfield redevelopment. Environmental justice literature has focused on the siting of noxious industrial facilities and their relationship to the location of low-income communities and communities of color (UCC 1987; Bryant & Mohai 1992; GAO 1993; Bullard et. al. 2007; Taylor,2013). While this body of literature has grown over recent decades, it has not yet thoroughly explored the distribution of brownfield redevelopment. To this end, this dissertation contributes to the discipline through three empirical papers. The first paper examines the unintended consequences associated with brownfield redevelopment in the Little Village neighborhood in Chicago using the following qualitative methods: autoethnography, archival research, and semi-structured interviews with residents. The second paper uses Census and EPA Brownfield data from 1990-2017 to examine the national trends of brownfield redevelopment and gentrification in the U.S. using quantitative descriptives and paired t-tests. The third paper a multilevel liner regression analysis that examines the relationship between brownfield redevelopment and race / ethnicity in the U.S. All three papers demonstrate significant evidence of brownfield redevelopment and gentrif (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kerry Ard (Committee Chair); Reanne Frank (Committee Member); Cynthia Colen (Committee Member); Kendra McSweeney (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Justice

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2020, Geography

Over the past three decades, the use of public dollars to fund the creation of professional sports stadiums has been a polarizing subject. Early research papers hypothesized the possible effects on the environment and through their analysis found that generally these stadiums have negative effects on the region economically. However, as the conversation has continued throughout the new millennia, new evidence has mounted suggesting that under the right circumstances these stadiums can have a positive impact on the community. This analysis will examine the impact of two sports stadiums in Toledo, Ohio on the sales value of parcels in Lucas county and within one mile of the sports facilities. Using data collected from the Lucas County Auditor's Office, a series of linear regressions are produced to analyze the impact of the introduction and spatial effect of stadiums on the parcel sales environment. Based on the results, the inconsistency of statistically significant variables makes it difficult to say that the facilities had a positive or negative effect on the community. However, there is some evidence to suggest that these stadiums did impact parcel sales amounts under specific circumstances. 

Committee: Daniel Hammel (Committee Chair); Yanqing Xu (Committee Member); Sujata Shetty (Committee Member) Subjects: Geographic Information Science; Geography; Urban Planning

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2020, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

One of Cincinnati's most unique features is the abundance of rst-ring suburbs. Among them is Madisonville, a neighborhood from the early 19th century which has remained one of the city's most densely populated areas for decades. Demographics and economic levels have uctuated continually over time to create a uniquely diversi ed community. However, in recent years Madisonville has seen dramatic changes in its business centers brought in by years of economic pressure from neighboring towns. Transplants are making room for themselves through a disruptive pattern that is bulldozing the current community. While this change can be seen as a positive economic move, ultimately the loss of community this is causing will negatively impact the neighborhood. The limited nancial means of Madisonville residents matched with the pressures of such economically imposing neighbors has made the full prevention of this disruption impossible. However, if the current residents were able to gain the means to rise with the tide of the area it is possible for them to help protect the culture of the area. Retro tting the existing homes of Madisonville can create opportunities for residents to nd savings and potentially pro ts in the face of a rising cost of living. The roots of change have already begun to segment Madisonville. Instead of working to reseal the cracks that have been made, this can be seen as an opportunity to provide means for the existing community of residents to rise up and enjoy the bene ts of the new Madisonville.

Committee: Michael McInturf M.Arch. (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Riorden M.Arch. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2019, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Criminal Justice

Architectural journalist Jane Jacobs is arguably one of the most influential figures in urban social sciences and city planning. Yet, she has received minimal attention in the criminological literature. I argue this stemmed from her ideas being linked to those of Oscar Newman. However, these initial interpretations of her ideas—namely that street safety is achieved through surveillance by residents—do not appear to take her contextual examples into account. This mistake is important because it obscures a vital source of social control in urban environments. In this dissertation I examine Jacobs' work and argue that she regarded shopkeepers (i.e., place managers) as the primary source of informal social control. While past interpretations assume Jacobs had a resident-focused explanation of crime, I propose that she had an owner/manager-focus in her writing. From this I unite her work with recent theories of place management into a Neo-Jacobian perspective of place and neighborhood crime. The theory highlights how deliberate decisions and actions taken by property owners and government agencies give rise to neighborhood crime. I then test the theory with three studies using a mixed methods approach. The first study examines the mechanisms of property ownership and neighborhood crime through qualitative interviews in Walnut Hills, a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio that is currently under redevelopment. Next, I conduct a time series analysis to examine how place-based redevelopment influences neighborhood crime in the same neighborhood. The last study tests the notion that there are at least two distinct crime generating processes operating within neighborhoods and that each possess different causal mechanisms. The results suggest that people external to neighborhoods can wield immense control within neighborhoods through property ownership. Moreover, the political decisions that impact the economic vitality of businesses can have a strong influence on crime. How (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: John Eck Ph.D. (Committee Chair); J.C. Barnes Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kate Bowers Ph.D. (Committee Member); Pamela Wilcox Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology

Master of City and Regional Planning, The Ohio State University, 2019, City and Regional Planning

Metropolitan regions across the United States have witnessed significant changes in recent decades. Evidence suggests that among these changes, suburban decline and poverty are social phenomena creating new challenges for metropolitan areas. While suburbs are often portrayed as places with few problems and places of prosperity, recent findings suggest otherwise (Hanlon, 2010; Kneebone and Nadeau, 2015). Lucy and Phillips (2000) coined this new suburban reality the era of suburban decline. The new challenges as a result of the social changes that have occurred in the era of suburban decline demand innovative policy responses. To explore these changes, a case study of Whitehall, Ohio was conducted. Whitehall, an inner-ring suburb in the Columbus metropolitan area has undergone significant changes including increasing poverty rates, growth of its foreign-born population, and population fluctuations. Using mixed methods and semi-structured interviews with public officials, this case study explores the changes that have occurred in Whitehall over the past 18 years, identifies the community's existing challenges and opportunities, and discusses policy recommendations to address suburban change and decline. The findings of this study suggest that it may be necessary to reframe suburban poverty and decline and view inner-ring suburbs from a new perspective that reflects the demographic shifts occurring in metropolitan areas across the country.

Committee: Bernadette Hanlon Dr. (Advisor); Jason Reece Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2018, Geography

As the landscape of 21st Century Rustbelt cities continues to change, city leaders are faced with important decisions on how to manage these changes. For some, growth is the most viable option. For others, especially those with a declining population and diminishing infrastructure, growth is out of the question. This paper will attempt to analyze the growth politics of Toledo, Ohio, utilizing the Urban Growth Machine theory and public-private partnerships as the framework. One such partnership, the Toledo 22nd Century Committee, will be the focus for the analysis. Census data, real estate data provided by a local real estate development agency, newspaper articles, and qualitative analysis using MaxQDA will work in tangent with key-member interviews to answer the underlying research question: do the public-private partnerships in the city of Toledo fit the model of an emerging growth machine? If so, what sort of impact might this have on future revitalization efforts?

Committee: Sujata Shetty (Advisor); Bhuiyan Alam (Committee Member); Neil Reid (Committee Member) Subjects: Geography

BA, Oberlin College, 2017, Comparative American Studies

This thesis examines how San Francisco vies for attention on an international stage, through destination cultivation and image management that is dependent on the criminalization of homelessness. This intertwined practice of aesthetic transformation with the rendering of homeless bodies as nonnormative and therein “removable” has fundamentally transformed public space in San Francisco. Public space redevelopment has been carried out through city planning, selective destruction and displacement, increased policing and securitization, and a rearticulation of social services and notions of “care” linked to punitive enforcement of the law. Neoliberalization of the built environment has engulfed thought on homelessness. As a result, municipal homeless policy is consumed by the practice of removing homeless people from “public” space in order to uphold aesthetic order. San Francisco homeless management in turn fails to challenge the structural causes behind homelessness and instead works to accommodate homelessness. This reproduces a logic that ignores injustices as a means of advancing neoliberal structures of global capitalism and is increasingly concerned with the isolation of poverty, boundary policing, and visible order. This work displays how market logics, commodification, and punitive discipline are articulated through primary sources like San Francisco's 1985 Downtown Plan, SRO destruction and displacement, the Union Square redesign, Union Square Business Improvement District literature and policy, “quality of life” laws, the San Francisco 311 app, mayoral campaigns to end homelessness, and Union Square Cares, a homeless service program operated by local businesses. Together these practices and technologies are part of a process of neoliberalization in San Francisco that erodes public space. Through a case study of Union Square, this redevelopment, city marketing, and aestheticization of space becomes clear, as does the criminalization and spatial management o (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Wendy Kozol (Advisor); Gina M. Perez (Advisor); Chris Howell (Advisor) Subjects: American Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Kinesiology

In order for one to reach the level of expertise or effectiveness, a process of learning must occur. Grenier and Kehrhahn (2008) proposed their human resources Model of Expertise Redevelopment centered on the thought that becoming an expert is a fluid and cyclical process that is dependent on context, which will require some redevelopment if conditions have changed. On the sport coaching development end, Wharton and Rossi (2015) came to the conclusion that there are no proven factors to ascertain coaching expertise, particularly since no concrete benchmarks have been decided upon. Thus, a more applicable approach would be to determine the developmental pathway that an effective sport coach takes. Therefore, adapted from Grenier and Kehrhahn's (2008) model, it is proposed in this dissertation the Model of Coaching Effectiveness Redevelopment (MCER). Interestingly, intercollegiate athletics in the U.S. is unique in terms of the dyad student-athletes deal with between athletic participation dependent upon academic grades and graduation progress (Schroeder, 2010; Williams, Colles, & Allen, 2010). The most visible association in the U.S. is the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) that is comprised of Division I, Division II, and Division III. The first purpose of this dissertation study was to propose the Model of Coaching Effectiveness Redevelopment (MCER), adapted from Grenier and Kehrhahn's (2008) MER, in the sport coaching realm. The second purpose of the study was to explore the perceptions of the developmental pathways of the effective participant coaches and make meaning of how the MCER relates to coaching effectiveness development at the intercollegiate athletics level. This dissertation utilized qualitative methods. The participants in this study included 12 male and female NCAA Division III effective team sport head coaches from the same athletic conference located in the Midwestern region of the U.S. spanning nine different sports. Each parti (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Donna Pastore Ph.D. (Advisor); Sue Sutherland Ph.D. (Committee Member); Brian Turner Ph.D. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Sports Management

MA, Kent State University, 2016, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Geography

This thesis is an exploratory case study into the spatial processes behind the redevelopment of the Elmwood Strip into the Elmwood Village, a commercial district in Buffalo, NY, which had suffered from economic and social decline during the 1970s, `80s, and `90s. Initially, print media deemed that a neighborhood institution – Forever Elmwood - was an integral element in the evolution and development of the “strip” into the “village.” However, I look beyond this narrative to consider other potentially important catalysts behind the area's redevelopment. I also examine the spatial outcomes that resulted from these changes using the accounts of key decision makers' perceptions of the area's changes. This extends into what they believe are the implications for future inner-city redevelopment in the city and area. Close examination reveals the area's redevelopment and success is the result of not only the work of key institutions and actors but also a combination of developmental tools and policies. More specifically, place marketing and branding campaigns, and urban planning design guidelines helped build Elmwood into an urban village and a successful Rust Belt neighborhood.

Committee: Jennifer Mapes Ph.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Geography

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Regional Development Planning

Tax Increment Finance (TIF) has become one of the most popular tools to support economic development in the United States. Since its inception over 60 years ago, TIF adoption and implementation has expanded nationally and evolved to cover a wide variety of uses. Once a tool primarily employed to support development in only the most blighted urban neighborhoods, today, TIF is utilized in projects ranging from large-scale industrial developments to high end, suburban shopping centers. While the majority of study has been devoted to measuring TIF effectiveness at local levels, very little work has been done to understand TIF use and implementation nationally. The primary objective of this study is to better understand TIF's evolution over time and across the United States. This study focuses on TIF legislative changes that have allowed for its extensive use across a wide variety of locations. In addition, this study measures some of the possible factors that contribute to TIF use in particular regions. This study uses a mixed methods approach, integrating an historical, policy analysis of TIF legislation with a geographic exploration supported by a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial statistical analysis using GeoDa. The results of this policy analysis indicate a general loosening of TIF legislation that allows TIF use to support a broader range of economic development initiatives. TIF legislative changes follow many national trends such as decreasing federal support for local economic development programs and increasing leadership from local governments initiating economic development efforts. In order to measure TIF adoption and implementation, state adoption dates and TIF district implementation are mapped and compared against state level, historical population and employment growth across the United States. The results of the spatial analysis indicate that early TIF adoption and higher TIF use tend to occur in states with a history of (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Rainer vom Hofe Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Christopher Auffrey Ph.D. (Committee Member); David Edelman Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2016, Environmental Sciences

This final report provides a description of my professional experience, as well as the academic and theoretical underpinnings that have guided my approach and decision making throughout my practicum and early career experiences. To begin with, my fellowship encompassed a vast range of projects, responsibilities, and assignments that varied in degree of ownership, input, and outcome. There are three experiences that will clearly illustrate a city aggressively trying to remake itself. In the pages that follow, I will connect my varied experiences at the City of Hamilton. Beginning with my fellowship position I will discuss the redevelopment campaign I directed and then I will continue to discuss the projects that I am working on in my current position. The fellowship position provided a logical transition from the theoretical into the practical application of local government. The Institute for the Environment and Sustainability (IES) provided a solid foundation upon which to develop my skills and put them to practical use. The common thread amongst these three projects is the role that they play in a city's revitalization.

Committee: Michele Simmons Ph.D (Committee Chair) Subjects: Environmental Science; Public Health Education; Sustainability; Urban Planning

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2015, Leadership and Change

Many authors point to expanding disparities related to wealth and social benefits brought by globalization and the creative city movement while culture and creativity emerge as growing forces in urban placemaking and economic development. The phenomenon of cultural district formation in cities around the globe presents challenges and opportunities for leaders, planners, and managers. Emerging theory related to cultural districts suggests culture can serve to build horizontal relationships that bridge people and networks from different sectors and professions as well as across ethnicities, class, and interests. Research for this dissertation examined the formation of three urban cultural districts social and their respective organizational networks in different contexts. I employed a multiple case study approach to ask: How do horizontal networks form in the process of planning, organizing and/or ongoing management of cultural districts, and what kinds of benefits do those networks generate within their communities? Field research focused on districts in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Miami. This dissertation is positioned within ongoing discourse around the tension between form and function in the production of space (Lefebvre, 1974/1991) and within the dialectic of centralization and decentralization in urban planning and governance (Friedmann, 1971) characterized by the push for broad social equity and the pull of local control. Research found that strong horizontal networks characterized by dense and active grassroots leadership were present at the same time as relative community stability and higher levels of social and economic equity. Where horizontal networks were weak, social and economic tensions were higher. The research did not examine other potential factors and thus cannot ascertain whether strong networks resulted in greater stability and equity or whether stability and more equitable conditions brought on by other factors fostered the formation of stro (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jon Wergin Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Laurien Alexandre Ph.D. (Committee Member); Mark J. Stern Ph.D. (Committee Member); Emily Talen Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Area Planning and Development; Arts Management; Cultural Resources Management; Urban Planning

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2013, Arts and Sciences: Geography

The April 2001 race riots in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood affected the city in many ways. This analysis focuses on how the riots affected Findlay Market, the oldest farmers market in Ohio and a cornerstone of the neighborhood. The transformation of the market from a publicly owned, utilitarian location for the purchase of specialty foods to a privately owned, urban chic oasis that trades on discourses of inclusiveness, diversity, family-friendliness, and sustainability is considered in the context of Baudrillard's conception of hyperreality. This paper aims to reintroduce such postmodern theories into the debate concerning urban processes by arguing that an urban crisis can instigate hyperreal, spectacular geographies as antidotes to urban unrest.

Committee: Colleen McTague Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Nicholas Dunning Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kevin Raleigh Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Geography

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2001, Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning : Community Planning

Downtown revitalization has been a popular term in the field of urban planning in America in the past 40-year. However, most of the researches only focused on cities or towns with populations of more than 5,000 people. In fact, Main Streets in American small towns are declining drastically during the past decades. These towns are in need of an effective way to strengthen their economic bases and keep a sense of place in the community. The objective of this research is to study the Main Streets in two small river towns, Ripley and Manchester, Ohio and provide the Village of Manchester with Main Street revitalization design strategies based on the result of the comparative analysis. The criteria of case studies include the three elements of making a sense of place: physical attributes, social activities and economic factors. Ripley is superior to Manchester on all of the aspects. Especially in the economic analysis by using the Zip Code Business Pattern data, Ripley has significant growths in number of retail establishments, business establishments and employees, as well as annual payroll. Based on the findings of the case studies and the overview of the National Main Street Approach, four major proposed strategies given to the Village of Manchester are: New Business/Development Recruitment, Tourism Promotion, A Mixture of Uses in the Main Street and Physical Appearance Improvements. Ten priority actions of Main Street revitalization are also recommended to Manchester, which include the following issues:1. Forming Downtown Revitalization Committee, 2. Seeking outside assistances, 3. Establishing Downtown Revitalization Plan, 4, Appearance improvements, 5. Adopting adaptive reuse on vancant building renovation, 6. Regulation of mobile homes, 7. Flooding protection, 8. Riverfront development, 9. Promoting light industry and service sector, 10. Regional coordination

Committee: Dr. Mahyar Arefi (Advisor) Subjects: Urban and Regional Planning