Hidden in plain sight: design approaches to Midwestern Mexican-American landscapes

Abstract

While increasing numbers of new immigrants from Mexico, recruited for meatpacking, food-processing, and light-manufacturing jobs, have been joining Mexican-origin people resident in the Midwest since the early twentieth century, both established and new Mexican-American communities remain virtually invisible to those shaping the built environment. To learn to “see” these Latina/o communities and make appropriate decisions regarding them, designers require information. This article provides descriptions of Mexican-American landscape types found in small cities across the region and discusses their landscape characteristics, constraints, and opportunities in various land uses, as well as their implications for work beyond these small Midwestern cities.

Keywords:

• social justice
• environmental justice
• Latino communities

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 benefitted 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.

Maps included in this manuscript were drawn by Becky Augustine (SUNY-ESF).

Notes

1. This manuscript primarily uses the term Latinas/os, but preserves the term Hispanic (resident) when referring to information from the US Census Bureau, since it is the primary term that institution uses.