Citation

Keske CMH, Bixler RP, Bastian CT, Cross JE. Rural Sociol. (1936) 2017; 82(2): 263-290.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Rural Sociological Society, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/ruso.12121

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The Intermountain West's rapid changes in population growth and land use may be welcome to some, but others perceive such changes as threats to sense of place. The objective of this study is to assess whether New West and Old West contextual variables predict how agricultural landowners view threats to agricultural lifestyles and sense of place. We analyze survey data collected from 2,270 agricultural landowners in Colorado and Wyoming utilizing a multilevel regression model (MLM). We posit that this analytical approach is effective for evaluating hierarchal New West or Old West economic configurations that may otherwise be difficult to observe. Our study specifically examines whether population pressures threaten agricultural lifestyles in the amenity-based New West or in Old West economic regimes with proclivity toward large-scale agricultural production. Our results show that landowners in farming-dependent counties and in high-amenity areas express greater concern than other landowners surveyed about increases in population growth that could threaten an agricultural way of life. Furthermore, we demonstrate that these perceptions relate to whether individuals reside in New West or Old West counties. In summary, some of the contextual variables of New West and Old West economic structures predict whether individuals perceive population growth and land use changes as threats to sense of place.

Language: en