Landscapes of Privilege

Landscapes of Privilege Landscapes of Privilege The Politics of the Aesthetic in an American Suburb James S.Duncan and Nancy G.Duncan University of Cambridge ROUTLEDGE NEW YORK AND LONDON This book was developed for Routledge by the Center for American Places, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Harrisonburg, Virginia ( www.americanplaces.org ). Published in 2004 by Routledge 29 West 35th Street New York, NY 10001 www.routledge-ny.com Published in Great Britain by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane London EC4P 4EE www.routledge.co.uk Copyright © 2004 by Taylor & Francis Books, Inc. Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group. This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge's collection of thousand of eBook please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Photos courtesy of Jo Sharp. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be printed or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or any other information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Duncan, James S. Landscapes of privilege: The Politics of the Aesthetic in an American Suburb/ James S.Duncan and Nancy G.Duncan. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-415-94687-5 (alk. paper)—ISBN 0-415-94688-3 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Landscape architecture—New York (State)—Bedford (Westchester County) 2. Landscape assessment—New York (State)—Bedford (Westchester County) 3. Landscape protection—New York (State)—Bedford (Westchester County) 4. City Planning—New York (State)—Bedford (Westchester County) I.Duncan, Nancy, 1948– II. Title SB470.54.N6D86 2003 712′.6′09747277–dc21 2003009898 ISBN 0-203-49645-0 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-57871-6 (Adobe e-Reader Format) ISBN 0-415-96701-5 (Print Edition) For John Friend, Teacher, Colleague Contents List of Figures x List of Tables xii Acknowledgments xiv Chapter 1. Introduction 1 Chapter 2. Bedford in Context 14 Chapter 3. The Narrative Structures: The Cultural Codes of a Landscape Aesthetic 42 Chapter 4. Anxious Pleasures: Place-Based Identity and the Look of the Land 68 Chapter 5. Legislating Beauty: The Politics of Exclusion 100 Chapter 6. The Taxman Cometh: The Gift of Nature in Suburbia 149 Chapter 7. Fabricating History: The Production of Heritage in Bedford Village 172 Chapter 8. Another Country: Latino Labor and the Politics of Disappearance 203 Chapter 9. Epilogue 251 Notes 259 Bibliography 283 Index 310 List of Figures Figure 1.1 Map of Westchester County 2 Figure 1.2 Map of Town of Bedford 6 Figure 2.1 Pastoral Bedford 27 Figure 4.1 An Eighteenth-Century House 80 Figure 4.2 A Rambling Classic Bedford House and Garden 81 Figure 4.3 A Recently Built House 85 Figure 4.4 A Dirt Road with Dry Stone Walls 92 Figure 6.1 Old Stone Walls in the Wilderness 153 Figure 6.2 A Place for Quiet Contemplation 162 Figure 7.1 Map of the Historical Tour 185 Figure 7.2 The Court House Museum 186 Figure 7.3 Village Green and Cemetery Beyond 188 Figure 7.4 Historical Hall 189 Figure 7.5 Schoolhouse and Catholic Church 190 Figure 7.6 Post Office 191 Figure 8.1 The Main Shopping Street of Mount Kisco 205 Figure 8.2 Latinos Gardening in Bedford 210 Figure 8.3 Latinos on Moger Avenue 217 Figure 8.4 Neighbor’s Link in the Warehouse District 234 Figure 9.1 The Bedford Oak 253 List of Tables Table 2.1 Number and Percent of Population 2000 25 Table 2.2 Percentage Population Increase 1990–2000 26 Table 4.1 Percent Disagreeing with the Statement “Our Rural Character Is Not Important to Me” 73 Table 4.2 Response to the Question, “What is the Single Most Important Challenge Facing Bedford?” 79 Table 4.3 Response to the Questions, “What Is Your Favorite Bedford View?” and “What Place in Bedford Should Be Kept Intact at All Costs?” 87 Table 5.1 Percent Agreeing That There Is a “Threat to Environmental Quality from Uncontrolled Growth as New Housing Replaces Undeveloped Land” 109 Table 5.2 Percent in Favor of Environmental Regulations of Wetlands 113 Table 5.3 Opinion Regarding Water Quality as a Percentage 118 Table 5.4 Percent Disagreeing with the Statement “All These Ordinances Infringe Too Much on the Rights of Individual Property Owners” 124 Table 5.5 Percent Agreeing with the Statement “We Should Work Hard to Restrict Conventional Tract Development as Much as Possible” 125 Table 5.6 Percent in Favor of Increasing Zoning to Ten Acres or More in Rural Areas 128 Table 5.7 Percent Agreeing with the Statement “As Bedford Continues to Grow, the Town Should Encourage More Preservation of Open Space” 131 Table 5.8 Response to the Question, “Is Loss of Diverse Population as Property Values Rise and Homes Get Bigger and More Expensive an Important Issue for the Town?” 138 Table 5.9 Response to the Question, “As Bedford Continues to Grow, Should the Town Encourage More Diversity of Housing Size and Type Serving a More Diverse Population?” 139 Table 6.1 Response to the Question, “Is the Town of Bedford Doing Enough to Protect Our Forests?” 163 Table 6.2 Percent in Favor of Tax Incentives to Large Landowners to Keep Large Tracts Intact 168 Table 6.3 Response to the Statement “Rising Property Taxes Are an Important Problem” 169 Table 7.1 Percent Favoring Stricter Regulation on Historic Areas and Landmarks 183 Table 8.1 Response to the Question, “Which of the Following are the Most Important Housing Problems in the Village?” 219 Table 8.2 Response to the Question, “What Type of New Development Do You Favor? 220 Acknowledgments We began studying Bedford in 1971, Jim’s first year in graduate school. Inevitably, when one has been working for so many years on a topic, even in fits and starts, many people influence the direction one takes. Among the most important are the late David Sopher, who first taught us cultural analysis in his rather Zen-like fashion, and John Agnew, who in the mid-1970s convinced us that cultural analysis should have a political bite. Elihu Gerson, in his own inimitable way, bullied and encouraged us in the beginning of this project, teaching us an interactionist and relational perspective that even through our poststructural adventures we have never abandoned. We would also like to thank David Lowenthal for taking an interest in the first paper we wrote on Bedford and suggesting that we send it to the Geographical Review. A number of people aided us in our research. Our research assistant in 1996, Luis Luhan, enriched our understanding of the Latino perspectives on Mount Kisco. Rosemary Woods of the Bedford Historical Library was generous with her extensive knowledge of Bedford. Mike Kerchoff was an accommodating cartographer. Jo Sharp walked with us through Bedford’s woods and down its dirt roads helping us take the photographs. Our debt to our informants in Bedford is enormous. Unfortunately, our policy of not revealing informant’s names doesn’t allow us to thank by name those who helped us the most. They offered us their time and their extensive insight and knowledge. We hope that they will find this book, if not the flattering portrait that they have come to expect from those who write about the town, at least a thought-provoking examination of how its beauty is sustained. We wish also to thank our informants from Mount Kisco for generously offering us their time and opinions on the sensitive subject of the day laborers. For reading and critically commenting on earlier drafts of this book in part or in whole, we are grateful to John Agnew, Stuart Corbridge, Dydia Delyser, Maruja Jackman, Michael Landzelius, Phil MacIntosh, David Robinson, Jo Sharp, and Judy Walton. We have received valuable feedback on our ideas when presenting bits of this book over the years at conferences and in seminars at the following universities: Bergen, British Columbia, Cambridge, Durham, Harvard, Kentucky, Oxford, Queen’s Belfast, Royal Holloway, and Syracuse. Inevitably many colleagues past and present have an important impact on one’s work. In this regard, we would like to acknowledge especially Trevor Barnes and David Ley at the University of British Columbia; John Agnew, Mike Heiman, Don Meinig, John Mercer, David Robinson, and John Western at Syracuse University; Matt Potteiger and Elen Deming at the State University of New York; and Peter Burke, Stuart Corbridge, Phil Howell, Gerry Kearns, Larry Klein, Satish Kumar, Michael Landzelius, Linda McDowell, and Sarah Radcliffe at the University of Cambridge. We would also like to acknowledge our present and former graduate students, now friends and colleagues in cultural geography with whom discussions over the years have helped us think more clearly about this project. They include Kay Anderson, Patty Butler, Dydia Delyser, Lorraine Dowler, Steve Frenkel, Liz Gagen, Nalani Hennayake, Shantha Hennayake, Nic Higgins, Dave Lambert, Steve Legg, Luis Lujan, Judith Kenny, Nuala Johnson, Gerry Pratt, Mitch Rose, Pilar Saborio, Rich Schein, Heidi Scott, Jo Sharp, Jonathan Smith, and Judy Walton. George Thompson and Randy Jones of the Center for American Places have been patient with us over the very long haul. We thank them for their help and understanding. And finally, we are grateful to all our family for their support, good humor, insight, and tolerance. Special thanks to Jimmy for moving over, to Miriam for joining him, and to Em for being Em.

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