Building sustainable communities using sense of place indicators in three Hudson River Valley, NY, tourism destinations: An application of the limits of acceptable change process

Abstract

This study explores whether measures of residents' sense of place can act as indicators in the Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) process to facilitate tourism planning and management. Data on community attributes valued by residents and the associated values and meanings were collected through focus groups with 27 residents in three Hudson River Valley, New York, communities. Data analysis found that strength of sense of place changes over time, as do the meanings and values associated with places. The quantification of sense of place required to establish limits makes it difficult to incorporate evolving place meanings. Therefore, sense of place scales are not indicators that easily conform to the LAC framework. Tourism development proposals that alter places may alter place meanings. Understanding residents' sense of place is the first step in establishing a framework for evaluating such proposals.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the 2009 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium

Citation

Sullivan, Laura E.; Schuster, Rudy M.; Kuehn, Diane M.; Doble, Cheryl S.; Morais, Duarte. 2010. Building sustainable communities using sense of place indicators in three Hudson River Valley, NY, tourism destinations: An application of the limits of acceptable change process. In: Watts, Clifton E., Jr.; Fisher, Cherie LeBlanc, eds. Proceedings of the 2009 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-66. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 173-179.