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An Examination of Land Use Disputes Over Golf Course Redevelopments in America

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Not in My Back Nine: An Examination of Land Use Disputes over Golf Course Redevelopments in America By Haley C. Meisenholder B.A. Urban Studies and Planning San Francisco State University, 2015 SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF URBAN STUDIES AND PLANNING IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN CITY PLANNING AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY JUNE 2019 © 2019 Haley C. Meisenholder. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper or electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now know or hereby created. Signature of Author: _____________________________________________________ Haley C. Meisenholder Department of Urban Studies and Planning May 16 2019 Certified by: ____________________________________________________________ Lawrence J. Vale Ford Professor of Urban Design and Planning Thesis Advisor Certified by: ____________________________________________________________ Ceasar McDowell Professor of the Practice MCP Committee Co-Chair Department of Urban Studies and Planning 1 2 Not in My Back Nine: An Examination of Land Use Disputes over Golf Course Redevelopments in America By Haley C. Meisenholder Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning on May 16, 2019 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master in City Planning ABSTRACT Golf courses in America delineate and identify landscapes of luxury, exclusion and abundance Golf courses in the Southwest are part of an invented tradition and the product of land speculation occurring after post-World War II suburbanization. Golf courses were built within master planned suburbs to inflate property values and to sell a middle-class cultural standing. Following the tradition of the exclusive country club, these new housing subdivisions sought to provide access to a new social network or identifier. In the Southwest, the amount of resources needed to create the lushness of the course is in stark contrast with reality the desolate natural landscape. Since 2000, golf has seen a decline with decreases in membership and a change in middle-class values no longer upholding the sport. Over 1,000 golf courses have closed over the last decade, opening up over 190,000 acres potentially for a new use. With many of these courses considered community amenities, homeowners are fighting redevelopment efforts happening in their backyards. Through interviews, site visits, archival and media research, three exclusionary tactics are identified in three case in the Southwest. One case argues the golf course use is mandatory for the open space requirement of the master- planned community. Ecologically, courses within the Southwest require more water than other courses in America. Legal requirements, like CC&Rs, are used to keep the golf use in perpetuity, no matter its economic success. Without legal backing, homeowners may use their social and political clout to demand the use remain in the community. Through these mechanisms, the invented tradition upholding this exclusionary use is continued. Communities fear a change in use will decrease their property values and bring new unknown neighbors. Each of these communities independently is deciding the “highest and best” use of the newly vacant land. As courses continue to close across the United States, the future uses and impacts of these conversions remains unknown. Thesis Supervisor: Lawrence J. Vale Title: Ford Professor Urban Design and Planning 3 4 Image Credit: This is an image of “House Hole, Garden Golf, North Belt Highway, Saint Joseph, Missouri” by John Margolies from 1996 in his Roadside America photograph archive. Not in My Back Nine: An Examination of Land Use Disputes over Golf Course Redevelopments in America Haley C. Meisenholder Master in City Planning Candidate ’19 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Urban Studies and Planning 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my mother and unofficial co-researcher, Antigone Swallow, thank you for your endless support. Even if we did not always know where we were going, I could not have gotten there without you. Thank you for always being a good sport and keeping me laughing, even when I booked the worst hotel known to man. Thank you to my family for being along on this ride. Tthis would be all for naught without you all. Thank you to my thesis and academic advisor, Larry Vale, for supporting my academic, personal and professional growth, for pushing my understanding of the world, forcing me to ask new questions and for never missing the chance to include a good pun. Thank you to Karilyn Crocket, Devin Bunten, Dayna Cunningham, and Gerald Frug - your courses and writings were invaluable parts of my education at DUSP. Thank you to Kelly Cederberg, John Melnick of US Golf Data, and everyone who spoke to me about this work and shared their perspectives, stories, and knowledge. Thank you to the William Emerson Travel grant for allowing me to visit these sites and see things from a different angle. This this thesis would not have been the same without the ability to ground truth it, so thank you. Thank you to my DUSP family. When I entered this program, I did not expect to be entering with a class full of such kind, funny, and supportive people. There is no class I would rather be a part of. I am beyond grateful to know you all as classmates, as colleagues and, hopefully, as lifelong friends. 6 Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ 6 PREFACE .................................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 1 – Overview & Literature Review ........................................................................... 15 Literature Review ................................................................................................................................. 17 The Shifting Middle Class ...................................................................................................................................18 Pre-Golf ...............................................................................................................................................................19 Epoch I: Urban, Elite Beginnings (1878 – 1919) ................................................................................................21 Epoch II: Growth and Stagnation (1920 – 1949) ................................................................................................23 Epoch III: Increased Leisure Time and Affluence (1950 – 1969) ......................................................................25 Epoch IV: Maturation and Saturation (1970 – 2000) ..........................................................................................29 Ecology ................................................................................................................................................... 31 Rise of Privatopias ................................................................................................................................ 35 Epoch V: (2000 to Present) .................................................................................................................. 37 CHAPTER 2 – Typologies of New Uses ...................................................................................... 41 A new kind of open space – public parks ........................................................................................... 44 To weather a storM – flood control and water retention .................................................................. 47 A Hole in One for Housing ................................................................................................................... 49 A new kind of industry ......................................................................................................................... 51 Mixed Use developments ...................................................................................................................... 51 Case Justification .................................................................................................................................. 54 Quantitative Justification .....................................................................................................................................56 CHAPTER 3 “Oasis in the Desert” – The Ecology of Class Tension ....................................... 59 TiMeline of developMent ...................................................................................................................... 60 Ecology ................................................................................................................................................... 62 Legality .................................................................................................................................................. 66 Politics .................................................................................................................................................... 67 A New Future ......................................................................................................................................................67 CHAPTER 4 – “Always & Forever” - The Legality of Class Tension ...................................... 69 Ecology ..................................................................................................................................................
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