CHEAP ECOLOGIES:cheapening our gateway communities

(

(

((

(

(

(

(

(

(

(

(

CHEAP ECOLOGIES:cheapening our gateway communities

$14.7 Billion Dollars spent in gateway communities by national park visitors in 2012

Unprecedented growth in the gateway communities surrounding out national parks is generating and changing landscapes in a signifi cant way. Large corporations and industries have realized that relocating their businesses within proximity of wilderness amenities serves as a motivating factor for potential employees. Additionally, retirees and young families are looking to settle in communities which are healthy, aesthetically pleasing, and safe.

These gateway communities, with their numerous cultural and ecological resources often experience diffi culty in transitioning into communities which retain cultural resonance, honor the regional and local ecology, and control development.

Specifi cally, gateway communities bordering national parks are placed in a unique position in which they are asked to provide goods and services which support and promote the primary feature, the park experience. Often, these goods and services become the primary focus of a visitors experience. People come to national parks and get hung up in the tourist traps spending money and perpetuating a negative system which loses focus of why a community existed in the beginning.

This creates a culture of cheapness. Cheap products. Cheap experiences. Cheap communities. Cheap ecologies.

E. of Mississippi - 16 E. of Mississippi - 59% 178 Mil.PARKS POPULATION

W. of Mississippi - 35 W. of Mississippi - 41% 126 Mil.

YELLOWSTONE

YOSEMIT

E & SEQUOIA

MOUNT RAINIER

CRATER LAKE

WIN

D CAVE

MESA VERDE

1900

GLACIER

ROCKY MOUNTAIN

S

LASSEN VOLCANIC

GRAND CANYON & ZION

HOT SPRIN

GS

BRYCE CANYON

ACADIA, B

ADLANDS, GRAND TETON

CARLSBAD CAVERNS

ISLE ROYAL

EVERGLADES

BIG BEND

OLYMP

KING’S

AMERICAN CIV

IL WAR

WW

INPS CREATED

MODEL T CREATED

GREAT SMOKY M

OUNTAINS,

SHENANDOAH, &

MAMMOTH CAVE

(

((

((

(

(( (

(

(

(

(

( (

(

((

(

(

273,630,895 number of people who visited a national park in 2013

NATIONAL PARKGIS DATA SET

MAJOR CITIES1/2 MILLION + POPULATION

2000

ZION & VIR

GIN IS

LANDS

HALEAKALA

HAWAII VOLCANOES

PETRIFIED FOREST

CANYON LANDS

GUADALUPE MOUNTAIN

S

NORTH CASCADES & REDWOOD

CAPITOL REEF & VOYAGEURS

ARCHES & THEODORE ROOSEVELT

EARTH DAY

9/11SIL

ENT SPRIN

G

US HIG

HWAY SYST

EM

NEW D

EAL & CCC, WPA

WILDERNESS ACT

DOW RETURNS TO

PRE-DEPRESSIO

N LEVEL

WW

II

DRY TORTUGAS

BLACK CANYON OF THE G

UNNISON

CUYAHOGA VALLEY

CONGAREE

GREAT SAND DUNES

PINNACLES

DEATH VALLEY, SAGUARO, & JO

SH-

UA TREE

GREAT BASIN

NATIONAL PARK O

F AMERICAN

SAMOA

CHANNEL ISLANDS, B

ISCAYNE,

DENALI, KATMAI, G

LACIER BAY,

GATES OF THE ARTIC

, KENAI F

JORDS,

KOBUK VALLEY, LAKE CLARK, &

WRANGELL ST

. ELIA

S

MPIC

S CANYON

GIS DATA SET

Great Smoky Mountains 9.3

Top TEN National Parks (Visits - Million) Scale 1:1,000,000

Grand Canyon 4.5

Yosemite 3.6 Yellowstone 3.1

Olympic 3.0 Rocky Mountains 2.9

Water National Park Major City US Forest Interstate

Zion 2.8 Grand Tetons 2.6

Acadia 2.1 Glacier 2.0

GIS DATA SET

EASY ACCESS (TRANSPORTATION) SUPPORTING AMENITIES

EXISTING CONDITION

INFRASTRUCTURE

+

AVAILABILITY

1952 - 1956DOUBLE LANE HIGHWAY

1950’s - current 1969 INCORPORATED

1934

2014

1820

PRODUCT

EXISTING DEVELOPMENT / NATURAL RESOURCE

TOWN PLANNING

MARKETING AND ADVERTISING

IMAGE/DESIRE/IDENTITY

HOW ARE THESE COMMUNITIES FORMED?

Each gateway community sets forth a vision supported by zoning and development plans which permits certain development types. This development brings with it a traditionally infl uenced pattern. Parking lot size, building set backs, green space, and more are all pieces of this larger puzzle. If no careful communities can lose a sense of natual and historical authenticity.

WWW.CITY-DATA.COM

SEVIER

BLOUNT

HAYWOOD - 58,908SWAIN - 14,141SEVIER - 92,512COCKE - 35,571BLOUNT - 124,177

POPULATION5 COUNTIES SURROUNDING GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK

PIGEON FORGE TODAY PIGEON FORGE INCORPORATED 1969

SWAIN HAYWOOD

COCKE

RIDGE TOP PROTECTION

67% URBAN 32% URBAN 43% URBAN 0% URBAN 45% URBAN

33% RURAL 68% RURAL 57% RURAL 100% RURAL 55% RURAL

HTTP://PIGEONFORGEREPORTER.FILES.WORDPRESS.COM

GIS DATA SET

CUT FILL

DEGRADED AIR QUALITY/VIEWS

OVERDEVELOPMENT CONGESTED TRAFFIC

CABIN DEVELOPMENT

IMPERVIOUS SURFACES

TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT TYPES

HTTP://PIGEONFORGEREPORTER.FILES.WORDPRESS.COM HTTP://WWW.CARDCOW.COM

WWW.CITY-DATA.COM

GATLINBURG

ACCOMMODATION/FOOD SERVICESARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, RECREATION

RETAIL TRADEPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

WHOLESALE TRADEEDUCATIONAL SERVICES

MANUFACTURING

ACCOMMODATION/FOOD SERVICESRETAIL TRADE

ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, RECREATIONEDUCATIONAL SERVICES

OTHER SERVICES, EXCEPT P. SER. AD.CONSTRUCTION

INFORMATION

ACCOMMODATION/FOOD SERVICESRETAIL TRADE

CONSTRUCTIONARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, RECREATION

ADMIN. & SUPPORT & WASTE MGMT.MANUFACTURING

OTHER SERVICES, EXCEPT P. SER. AD.

ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, RECREATIONCONSTRUCTION

RETAIL TRADEEDUCATIONAL SERVICES

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONACCOMMODATION/FOOD SERVICES

HEALTH CARE & SOCIAL ASST.

PIGEON FORGE SEVIERVILLE CHEROKEE

DRIVING MARKETS MOST COMMON INDUSTRIES IN 2008 - 2012

LITTLE OR NO RIVER BUFFERDEGRADED AQUATIC ECOLOGIES

VEGETATION DESERTPOOR STORMWATER MGMT.

UNSAFE STREET CROSSINGSNOISE/AIR POLLUTION

IMPERVIOUS SURFACESMASSIVE CUT/FILL

GRAYEffi cient and calculated planning which is centered around transportation, public works, and engineering. Modern design, as a design movement, extends beyond aesthetics and to the way we think about planning and dwelling. Th eory seeking “simplicity and clarity”.

‘Form follows function.’‘Truth to materials.’

‘Industrialization.’

‘STREAMLINE.’

http://demoya.com

GREEN‘Organic.’

‘Resilient.’

‘Systems oriented.’‘WHOLISTIC.’

Systems oriented and based on connection with and mimicry of natural systems. Th e green movement seeks to reconnect to the natural environment and

establish a way of existing which functions within the carrying capacity of the planet.

http://assets.knowledge.allianz.com

http://www.motherjones.com/

COMPONENTS OF A RICH ECOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

WATER SYSTEMS

PLANNING

ZONINGINFRASTRUCTURE

AIR QUALITY

HABITAT CORRIDORS DIVERSITY

CLIMATE CHANGE

HEALTHY SOILS

CHANGE

ECOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

What if developed corridors were designed to serve as a function and service of the resources to which they travel?

Rather than simply funneling traffi c to a destination, communities and transportation corridors can serve as a

ecological extension of the ecology found in the national parks. Th is extensive and diversifi ed program would accomplish many

functions economically, socially, and ecologically.