University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Spring 2010 Community change in the Northern forest Chris R. Colocousis University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Colocousis, Chris R., "Community change in the Northern forest" (2010). Doctoral Dissertations. 584. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/584 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COMMUNITY CHANGE IN THE NORTHERN FOREST BY CHRIS R. COLOCOUSIS Bachelor's of Arts, Stonehill College, 1998 Master's of Arts, University of New Hampshire, 2003 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology May, 2010 UMI Number: 3470091 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMT Dissertation Publishing UMI 3470091 Copyright 2010 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This edition of the work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 This dissertation has been examined and approved. fk Dissertation Director, Cynthia M. Duncan, Professor of Sociology Benjamin C. Brown, Associate Professor of Sociology Kurk Dorsey^ssocia)e Professor of History Mark. J. Ducey, P/ofessor of Forest Biometrics and Management V Lawrence C. Hamilton, Professor ofSociology £ ?/z£>/C> Date 44 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to acknowledge the people of Berlin and the Androscoggin Valley for their cooperation and assistance as I undertook this study. This not only includes my respondents, but the women and men of Berlin who were on many occasions gracious and friendly enough to indulge me in conversation in the city's stores, offices, and restaurants. To my respondents I owe a special debt for their willingness to sit down and have extended conversations with a total stranger—and a flatlander at that. Berlin has seen some tough times in recent years, but there are many thoughtful and committed individuals working hard to ensure a better future for the city. Many of these people are represented in the pages that follow, and I will always be grateful for the chance to know and understand their community over the past few years. My experience in the Department of Sociology at UNH has been an overwhelmingly positive one, and I am grateful for the time I have spent with faculty and other graduate students. I owe a special debt to Deena Peschke and Lynn Beaver, who have helped me to find my way through the program since I began here. Many members of the department have been instrumental in my professional development through coursework, colloquia, and personal conversations. My time with several junior faculty in Sociology and beyond—especially Karen Van Gundy, Amanda Howerton, Cesar Rebellon, and Nick Smith—has been incredibly valuable over the past several years. My dissertation committee—Cliff Brown, Kurk Dorsey, Mark Ducey, Mil Duncan, and Larry Hamilton—has been an absolute pleasure to work with, and I can't express enough my appreciation of your insight, thoroughness, and patience as I put this iii project together. Since my earliest drafts of a proposal, your guidance has been instrumental in shaping my work. My advisor, Mil Duncan, has been incredibly generous with her time throughout this project, and has been an absolutely wonderful committee chair and mentor. She provided me with intellectual guidance while allowing me the freedom to pursue the project in what I saw as the most productive ways, and I will always be grateful for our time spent working together. Mil has also been incredibly generous in supporting me through work at the Carsey Institute, and grants from the Ford, Kellogg, and Babcock foundations partially supported this project. My time at Carsey has allowed me to not only pursue this project, but a number of others through which I was able to pursue opportunities I would not otherwise have been afforded. Finally, I thank my mother, Geri, and father, Fotis for their love, support, and patience as I have pursued my studies. My sister, Caryn, and my cousins, aunts, and uncles have also been incredibly supportive over the past several years. I love you all very much, and I couldn't have done any of this without you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF FIGURES x ABSTRACT xiv CHAPTER PAGE I. BACKGROUND AND PREVIOUS RESEARCH 1 Introduction 1 Berlin, New Hampshire 3 The Northern Forest 8 Understanding Change and Redevelopment 9 Review of Literature 12 Environmental Sociology 13 Studies of Community and Regional Decline 15 The Increasing Significance of Natural Amenities and Attractiveness of Place in Development 22 From Spaces of Production to Spaces of Consumption 24 A Third Way? Sustainability, Conservation, and "Green" Development 27 Conclusion 30 II. METHODS 32 Community as the Unit of Analysis 32 Place Character 33 A Model of Redevelopment 35 Research Questions 38 Data Sources 40 Qualitative Data 40 Semi-Structured Interviews 41 Participant Observation 46 Visual and Photographic Accounting 46 Other Qualitative and Historical Methods 47 Public Secondary Data 48 Survey Data 49 The Community and Environment in Rural America Survey 49 The Fall 2009 Granite State Poll 50 v Naming the Community 51 III. DEVELOPMENT AND DECLINE IN BERLIN 53 The Pulp and Paper Industry 54 Pulp and Paper in New England and the North Country 59 A Century of Growth and Decline in Berlin 62 From Growth to Decline 69 The Mill's End 78 Conclusion 83 IV. COMMUNITY IDENTITY, IMAGE, AND CHANGE 85 The Androscoggin and the Environmental Costs of Pulp and Paper Production 85 Community and Environmental Stigma 90 The Burgess Pulp Mill and Pollution in Berlin 92 The City's Identity and Image 94 The Momentum of Historical Identity and Image 98 From Pollution to Physical Decay and Social Disorganization 99 The Shape of Tourism-Oriented Development 103 Tourism Development in Berlin 103 Northern Forest Heritage Park 104 Jericho Mountain State Park 105 The Coos County Branding Project 105 Berlin's 21/21 Initiative 106 The Androscoggin Valley Tourism Promotion Proj ect 106 The Role of Image and Identity 107 Conclusion 109 Stigma: Form and Content 110 Ascertaining the Invisible Costs of Stigmatization Ill V. THE PRODUCTION OF SPACE IN BERLIN: IMPACTS OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT ON REDEVELOPMENT 113 The Production of Space 114 The Built Environment in Berlin 116 The Cityscape 117 Blight 120 Downtown 121 Housing 124 Public Safety Expenditures 129 The Infrastructure Issue 130 Fiscal Stress 131 The Mill Site 135 The Recovery Boiler 137 The Cell Houses 144 The Industrial Androscoggin 150 Conclusion 157 vi VI. THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF PULP AND PAPER 161 Political Ecology 162 Forest Management and the Pulp and Paper Industry 163 The Structure and Economic Value of the Forest in the North Country 167 Ownership Changes and Harvesting Patterns 180 The Emergence of Biomass Energy as the New Wood-Based Industry in Berlin 186 Transmission Issues 188 Wood Supply Issues 189 The Absence of Non-Biomass Wood-Based Alternatives 190 Conclusion 191 VII. CIVIC CULTURE, THE LOCAL MIDDLE CLASS, SMALL BUSINESS, AND COMMUNITY CHANGE 196 Civic Culture in Berlin 197 The North Country in National Perspective 198 Urban Neighborhood Effects and Collective Efficacy 199 Local Perceptions of Civic Culture 203 "Pluralism of a Particular Sort" 206 The Local Middle Class 212 Who are the Middle Class? 212 The Size of the Middle Class in Berlin 217 A Changing Occupational Mix 220 Occupation-Based Social Classes in Berlin 222 Conceptions of Social Class in Berlin: "Pretty Gray" 225 A New Low-Income Class? 229 Economic Anchor Institutions 231 The Small Business Community 233 The "Independent" Middle Class 234 Small Business and the 2007 and 2009 Municipal Elections 239 The 2007 Election and Citizens for a New Vision 239 The 2009 Election and Green Light Berlin 246 Conclusion 250 VIII. CONCLUSION 253 Bringing a Focus on Place into the Study of Community Change 264 Redevelopment as Spatial Practice 266 The Future of the Local Economy 268 LIST OF REFERENCES 274 APPENDICES 298 Appendix A. Informed Consent Letter 299 vn Appendix B. IRB Approval 301 Appendix C. Interview Guide 302 Appendix D. The 2007 Community and Environment in Rural America Survey 306 Appendix E. The Fall 2009 Granite State Poll- Berlin, NH Questions 323 vin LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 2-1 Main themes in interview data coding scheme 44 6-1 Correlation Matrix of Pulp and Paper Employment and Forest Structure Variables for Northern Forest Region 178 7-1 Percent Berlin Labor Force Employed in Census 2000 Occupational Categories, 1990 and 2000 221 8-1 Largest Employers in Berlin, 2008 256 8-2 Summary Table of Main Redevelopment Projects in Berlin 257 IX LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1-1 Location of Berlin,