Main Street remade : a case study of eminent domain use in Port Chester, New York
| dc.contributor.advisor | Hoelscher, Steven D. | |
| dc.creator | Longobardi, Elinore Ann | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2015-08-03T18:30:10Z | en |
| dc.date.issued | 2013-08 | en |
| dc.date.submitted | August 2013 | en |
| dc.date.updated | 2015-08-03T18:30:11Z | en |
| dc.description | text | en |
| dc.description.abstract | In the late 1990s, looking to improve its fiscal situation, the Village of Port Chester, New York, decided to approve the redevelopment of a 27-acre site that comprised a large section of its downtown. The centerpiece of the 1999 plan was a big-box shopping center and multi-tier parking structure. To build the project, Port Chester used eminent domain to raze most of its South Main Street, along with adjacent blocks--an area already full of small shops and businesses. The village took this action in the name of “public good,” replacing the small-scale buildings and family owned businesses with big-box retail--including Costco, a Loews multiplex, DSW shoes and Bed Bath & Beyond. The village’s goal was to replace a “blighted” area (the term a vestige of legal and rhetorical constructs surrounding mid-20th century urban renewal) with a more upscale one--bringing in, as officials saw it, more tax revenue and creating jobs. This dissertation examines the mechanics and the consequences of this kind of large-scale land clearance, especially in the context of a small suburban municipality. Far from being an anomaly, the Port Chester project is an example of an ongoing trend: the use of eminent domain in the service of economic development, which we can see as a kind of present-day urban renewal. | en |
| dc.description.department | American Studies | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2152/30275 | en |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.subject | Eminent domain | en |
| dc.subject | Port Chester | en |
| dc.subject | New York | en |
| dc.subject | Westchester county | en |
| dc.subject | Urban renewal | en |
| dc.title | Main Street remade : a case study of eminent domain use in Port Chester, New York | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |
| thesis.degree.department | American Studies | en |
| thesis.degree.discipline | American Studies | en |
| thesis.degree.grantor | The University of Texas at Austin | en |
| thesis.degree.level | Doctoral | en |
| thesis.degree.name | Doctor of Philosophy | en |