The Scruffy City: Development in Knoxville, TN
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 12-2016 The Scruffy City: Development in Knoxville, TN Katherine Leigh Morris University of Tennessee, Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Recommended Citation Morris, Katherine Leigh, "The Scruffy City: Development in Knoxville, TN. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2016. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/4154 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Katherine Leigh Morris entitled "The Scruffy City: Development in Knoxville, TN." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Sociology. Jon Shefner, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Paul Gellert, Stephanie Bohon, Derek Alderman Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) The Scruffy City: Development in Knoxville, TN A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Katherine Leigh Morris December 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project is many, many, many years in the making and I have a lot of family and friends and work family/friends to thank for their support. I want to first thank Jon Shefner, my chair, mentor, and friend. I met Jon when I was an undergrad 13 years ago in his social movements course. He encouraged me to apply to graduate school and has seen me through many successes and failures. I would not be here without him. I also want to thank Paul Gellert for all of his PE classes and his unwavering support. I am also indebted to Stephanie Bohon’s support as a graduate student and as a member of my committee. I am not sure I would have passed my (second) methods exam without her help. Derek Alderman, thank you so much for stepping in on my committee. I really appreciated your comments and humor. To my sociology women who supported me with talking sessions, coffee, babysitting, trips to the woods, laughter, random texts, unwavering confidence, and if all that failed there was always wine and fire. Thank you Sarah, Meghan, Sara, Casey, Bobby Jo, and Lisa. To my Pellissippi family that since hiring me four years ago have supported me through a pregnancy, a newborn, and a dissertation. A special thanks to Kathy King without whom I would probably lose my head. To my amazing, supportive, and rambunctious family, I love you and I can’t think of a better team to have my back. To my brothers and sisters-in-law and nieces and nephews, thanks for the love and laughter! To Mom and Bobby and Dad and Leslie, thank you for your never ending love and support. Y’all can all finally quit worrying that I won’t finish! Finally, to Grant and Elijah. Grant, I am so excited to begin this new chapter of our lives! You are always my biggest supporter, but these last few months you have taken on most of the household chores, a lot of the parenting responsibility, and the daunting task of attempting to keep me emotionally and mentally stable. To Eli, you are the funniest, sweetest, most amazing kid I know. This has been rough on you and Grant these last few months and you didn’t exactly understand why Mom always had to work. But kid, I’m done. I foresee lots of family time in the future. It’s me and you and Daddy. I won’t be missing any more Saturdays hiking away the day. We will hike away together; we will hike away. ii ABSTRACT Urbanization and globalization are two processes that have dramatically changed economic, political, and social structures across modern society. When impacts of globalization and urbanization are discussed by academics, policy makers, or the media, the emphasis is usually on large mega-cities such as New York City. Despite this focus on these large urban cities, most of the growth in urban populations across the globe has occurred in smaller cities. The purpose of this study is to highlight some of the ways in which globalization has impacted a smaller city and some of the strategies city leaders and developers have adopted to adapt to these changing structures. This is accomplished by analyzing development in Knoxville, the third largest city in the state of Tennessee. Knoxville is used to understand changing urban structures, such as neoliberal suburbanization and gentrification; changing economic structures, such as deindustrialization and tourism based on place or heritage; and the increasing use of public-private partnerships between the City of Knoxville and developers. This project concludes that this snapshot of development in Knoxville helps integrate growth machine theory into theories of neoliberalism and globalization, which furthers understanding of urban processes. Furthermore, changing economic structures pressure local governments to pursue alternative economic opportunities. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One Introduction ........................................................................................ 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 Chapter Summaries ............................................................................................. 7 Chapter Two Globalization and the City: Theoretical and Empirical Context ...... 11 Globalization, Global Cities, and Neoliberalism ................................................ 14 Globalization ................................................................................................... 14 Global Cities.................................................................................................... 17 Neoliberalism .................................................................................................. 20 Urban Political Structure in the United States ................................................... 22 Roles of Government and Industry ................................................................ 22 Use and Exchange Values- Growth Machine Theory ................................... 25 Circuits of Capital............................................................................................ 30 Changing Economic Structures ......................................................................... 34 Manufacturing and High-Tech Services ......................................................... 34 Tourism and the Entertainment City .............................................................. 35 Changing Urban Structures ............................................................................... 37 Suburbanization .............................................................................................. 37 Gentrification ................................................................................................... 42 Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 46 Chapter Three A Brief History of Knoxville............................................................ 47 The New South Turns Ugly, 1791 to 1949 ........................................................ 49 White Flight and Downtown Blight, 1950 to 1969 ............................................. 59 From Scuffletown to the Sunsphere: 1970 to 1989 ........................................... 61 From Gay Street to Turkey Creek: 1990 to the Present ................................... 65 Chapter Four The Fescue Frontier and the Gill Avenue Gentry: Neoliberal Suburbanization and Gentrification ....................................................................... 74 Neoliberal Suburbanization and Gentrification .................................................. 75 Neoliberal Suburbanization ............................................................................ 79 Neoliberal Gentrification ................................................................................. 89 Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 99 Chapter Five Marble Quarries and Mountain Bikes: Industry and Tourism in Knoxville, TN ........................................................................................................ 102 Luring Industry to Knoxville .............................................................................. 106 Urban Heritage Tourism ................................................................................... 114 Outdoor Knoxville ......................................................................................... 117 Music and Festivals ...................................................................................... 127 Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 131 Chapter Six Megaprojects ................................................................................... 133 The Convention Center ...................................................................................