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Abstract
This qualitative study explores the physical landscapes associated with Mexican-Americans in small Midwestern cities, comparing landscapes of established communities with those of newly formed ones. The study primarily uses field observation to describe and categorize 11 cities in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio as five landscape types. Demographic and economic factors also are considered. The primary finding is that landscape types associated with established Mexican-American communities differ in consistent and predictable ways from those associated with newly arrived Mexican-American communities. These findings have implications for landscape and planning practice as well as the changing impact of immigrants on American cities.
Acknowledgements
I conducted portions of this work at the University of Michigan, whose School of Natural Resources and Environment provided partial research funding. This work benefited from many constructive and thoughtful reviews, including those of UM professors Bob Grese and Maria Cotera and those of the editors and reviewers of this journal.
Notes
1. This paper primarily uses the term Latina/os, but preserves the term Hispanic [resident] when referring to information from the US Census Bureau, since it is the term that institution uses.
2. Sources for largest employer data:Ohio: http://www.odod.state.oh.us/research/files/s0.htmMichigan: http://www.michigan.org/medc/miinfo/places/ Indiana: http://www.hoosierdata.in.gov/nav.asp?id=197
3. Street maps included locally available city street maps, where possible, and the following state atlases:Indiana Atlas & Gazetteer, 1998. Yarmouth, ME: DeLorme.Ohio Atlas & Gazetteer, 2004. Yarmouth, ME: DeLorme.Michigan Atlas & Gazetteer, 2001. Yarmouth, ME: DeLorme.
4. All numeric demographic data within ‘Results’ were derived from 2000 US Census Bureau data.