Relevant Literature

Home Methods History of the Site Interview Analysis Conclusions Work Cited

Part for the reason for researching the history of a piece of land was to gain a greater "sense of place."  Deborah Tall wrote an essay titled "Dwelling: making peace with Space and Place" which I feel beautifully illustrates my methodology behind this project.  She begins by observing that people today are constantly moving from place to place and no longer have a true connection to their home where they are living.  Moving is so prevalent today that it is almost even looked down on to stay in one spot she says because you are seen as unmotivated.  The essay then goes on to describe examples of just how emotionally connected people can be to their home.  One of her many examples described how a farmer named John Clare had his land taken away from him and neatly partitioned off due to England's Enclosure Act.  He was so distressed form the lost of his home that he eventually went insane and spent his time writing about his loss.  Tall goes on to say "A weak sense of the past encourages a weak sense of place.  When people are attached to their forebearers, they want to remain close to where they lived, continue their tradition, tend their graves, embody their hopes."  If one lacks this connection to the past she recommends looking for stories and histories of the place where one lives and adopting their traditions.  By doing this she feels one can feel more at home in the place where they dwell.                 The piece of land I researched the history of and all of the surrounding land were once  farms and have now been turned into residential areas.  Therefore, I became interested in further understanding the factors involved in a farming area transforming into a residential area. After reviewing several journal articles written on the topic it became very apparent that the development of Greenvale Avenue from farmland is by no means an isolated incident. It also is not a recent development.           For the past several decades as the cities expand people have been seeking more rural spots further from town. An article from 1986 in The Economist, almost twenty years ago, describes how cities are spreading out into the country and the distinction between city and country is being blurred. This article, "On the trail of the white-collar settlers" explains that this trend goes even further back to the 1970's when back-to-landers migrated from cities in search of a quiet and simple life.  However, in this case there was not enough work and these towns soon became deserted as people began to leave. Then during the 1980's again the centers of the cities were no longer the fastest growing areas and the outer suburbs had the fastest growth rates. The author feels that people are drawn out because they feel there is something honest and good about farming and living out in farm country brings a sense of independence and self-sufficiency. These new settlers are driving the mid sized farmers out of business and agriculture is being consolidated into fewer and larger farms. The article goes on to discuss the ways in which the new arrivals effect the area.   As the suburbs move into farm country land values usually go up and banks move along and bring with them capital.  However, while property values may increase the farmers are still losing their land and livelihood to development.            Another slightly earlier piece I looked at was written in 1980 by the 58th American Assembly, a group of 63 people from: government, business, farm organizations, urban planning groups, real estate development, foundations, and the media.  The tittle of the final report was The Farm and the City.  The meeting lasted for three days in order to discuss problems that came from people moving out o the cities and into the edge of the suburbs.  These problems consisted of centers of cities losing their tax base and farmers losing prime farmland to developments.  This group listed the following reasons for people wanting to move out into the country: cars, highways, federal mortgage prices, income tax breaks, and personal preferences for a more land.  They also list possible reasons for why people wanted to get out of the city: crime, inadequate public services, bad schools, pollution, and the large amount of poor people.  The 58th American assembly was concerned with making policy recommendations to the state and federal governments about various ways to make living in the country less appealing and therefore protect the countries food supply.  Some of these recommendations include, altering the tax structure so it is more economical to live in the city, preserve farmland, and revitalize cities.           The first two sources I looked at were from the 1980’s, shortly after the Hills bought the house and land originally owned by John T. Searle and farmed since 1875.  Their house and the surrounding area according to Barbara Hill was being developed into a residential area during that time.  Then a few years later the Hills sold off part of their land in 1978 and 1980 that was then developed, this was right around the time of these articles.  Therefore, while these articles are a bit outdated currently, they are very relevant when looked at in relation to the history of the property I researched.  After reading literature from that time I discovered that the development of farmland was not only occurring in this part of Northfield but all over and was a big issue.  It was such a problem that the 58th American Assembly met to discuss it.           I will now go on to discuss several pieces of literature that address the more recent aspects of urban sprawl moving into farm areas.  To begin with "Here Comes The Neighborhood", written in 1997 by Noel Brinkerhoff, talks about this issue taking place in California and the negative effects that may come about.  California is the U.S.'s op agricultural state for the last 50 years and produces 25 percent of the countries food supply earning more than 20 billion dollars in state income annually.  Therefore, the urban spread into California's bread basket (Central Valley, Imperial Valley, and Central Coast valleys) could be disastrous for the state and the countries food supply.  The productive farmland is being converted into residential areas so quickly that some feel that California may have trouble feeding itself let alone the country in the near future.  For instance, the population in the Central Valley is estimated to be triple what it is now by 2040.  The American Farmland trust ranked the Central Valley as the most threatened agricultural region in the country.  Not only does the suburban development take away viable farm land but it impacts the farmers in other ways as well.  The extra roads built to accommodate the new cities bring about more pollution which retards crop growth.  Developers respond to these criticisms by pointing out that California s only five percent urbanized.  However, the rapid spread of urbanization may change this.  The California has tried to stop farmland from being converted into urban areas by giving tax breaks to farmers who set aside land.  However, the states efforts have not been very successful and many farmers continue to give in and sell their land since it can be worth twice as much than when farmed.  Another attempt to protect this farmland is the Agricultural land Stewardship program which buys up land to preserve it.  Unfortunately, it has not been able to buy up a significant amount of land.  Due to the outcomes of these attempts to combat the problem the author feels that solutions need to come at the local level.  A compromise between agricultural and development needs are essential.  While this article is pertaining to an area across the country from Northfield I find it to be quite useful when analyzing the changes occurring in Northfield.   As my previous articles discussed the same general trend of people moving further away from the cities is a common trend seen all over the United States.  The effect of  people in California moving out is quite similar to the general trend seen all over the U.S.  Therefore, by looking at a specific case which happens to be located in California one can not only gain insight into the problem in general, but further apply it to the effect it has on Northfield.  Also the fact that similar cases of urban sprawl moving into rural farming areas has been seen in California further supports the idea that this trend is very spread out and can have a huge impact on the surrounding area.            Another recent article from 2001 is titled "Skirmish at Battle Lake: A Decision Case on Potato Farm Development near Lake shore Communities."  In this article the author, Ami N. Erickson, reviewed a conflict between a farmer and two residential communities in Minnesota.  This is an interesting article because it discusses an event that happened in Minnesota, which is the state were the land I researched is located.  The case discussed in the article is an example of residential communities who have moved close to farms and are now unhappy with the negative effects that go along with farming and influences them.  The conflict began when a potato farmer tried to lease out a retired piece of land he owned to be farmed again.  This piece of land was between Battle Lake and Clitherall Lake in western Minnesota and each of the lakes had residential lake shore communities along them.  The land was 150 meters away from Battle Lake, and 90 meters away from Clitherall Lake.  When the communities heard about this both of their lake shore associations were concerned and three of the residents even sent in petitions to the MN DNR asking for a EAW (Environmental Assessment Worksheet) to be completed in order to determine what impacts that irrigation and the chemicals used will have on the area.  This EAW now needed to be completed and to have found no significant environmental effects  before the DNR would give permission and grant the farmer a Water Appropriation Permit.  The farmer could do no farming before the permit was granted.  The potato farming company had never had a problem obtaining these permits before.  The main concern that the residents had was that the chemicals would negatively effect the fisheries in their lakes and impact their fishing.  The company planned public education and relations meeting in order to show they were sensitive to the residences concerns and explain how they would reduce the impact of their farm.  But even after these efforts the residents were not totally convinced and awaited the EAW.  The EAW came back saying that they could go ahead but the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency felt that the human impacts needed to be further researched.  Therefore, an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) was now needed on top of the EAW.  This would cost the company even more money and in the end they decided not to farm the piece of land because it was not worth it.  This case shows a very different aspect f the impact of urban sprawl moving into farming communities.  The residents actually were able to prevent a farmer from using his own land not by buying it, but by petitioning its use.  If they had not been there no one would have been concerned with it, and the farmer would have carried on like normal.  Another interesting aspect of this article is that it takes place in Minnesota, which gives a perspective on the occurrence of urban developments moving away from the cities that is more close to home.  The article also solidifies that not only is the spread of urban sprawl occurring all over the United States but it is most definitely occurring very near the site which I researched.           So far I have discussed articles which I found that address the problems which farmers face when urban sprawl moves in.  However,  another article I found shows that good things can come from the encroaching cities.  "Agriculture and Innovations in the Urban Fringe: the Case of Organic Farming in Quebec, Canada" published in 1998 and written by Audric Beauchesne and Christopher Bryant illustrates how farms near urban areas are more likely to develop alternative forms of agriculture such as organic farming, pastime farming, pick-your-own operations, directs sales and agri-tourism.  Organic farming is the most common innovation and is the focus of this article.  First the article discusses the reasons for the appearance  or organic farms near cities.  The farms are successful because the urban areas are full of people who want the organic products and also there are many organic suppliers around these areas.  Local and regional factors are also thought to play a role in the development of this type of farming.  The local political environment can encourage innovations in some area more than others.  Social factors are also influential, such as values, history, or the presence of a dynamic agricultural organization.  The economic structure (such as farm size, product mix, and the structure of the ownership) of some areas may be better able to develop organic farms.  Another big factor determining the presence of organic farms is whether the urban area has segments of their population that value the environment and create a market for it or if conventional farming is way too competitive.  The second part of the article involved an analysis of census information in order to determine the concentration of organic farms in Quebec and in which areas they are most dense.  The results of the study showed that the metropolitan regions of Quebec held the majority of organic farms in the province and montreal was the city with the highest number.  In the end, the positive effects of the cities are not enough to produce organic farms, individual factors (political, social, and economic) still need to be right in order to see a high occurrence organic farms.  I chose to include this case in my review of literature because it  discusses the issue of urban  development moving away from the cities in Canada which shares many similarities with the U.S.  It focuses around metropolitan areas, which are similar to the twin cities.  Also the article gives a positive side to this spread which I found interesting especially since I know that there are organic and no till farmers in the Northfield area which catering to the Northfield residents that are environmentally conscious.  There is even an area in the local grocery store for organic locally grown foods.  Therefore, one can conclude that after having read this article the urban population living in Northfield may play a large role in the existence of these farms since they are their customers.  While this information does not directly relate to the piece of land I researched since it is not an organic farm it does give an insight into the Northfield area which creates a greater overall sense of place for the region.           Finally, I examined an article written about the effects of the city moving into the farm regions in Accra, Ghana in Africa.  This is a recent article from 1999, "Farming in the Shadow of the City" written by Daniel Maxwell et. al.  The area between the country and the city of Accra is currently being rapidly developed with a lack of planning, property rights are changing, and livelihoods are changing.  This is causing land to be developed leaving less for the farmers to farm and causing them to lose their livelihood and way of life.  There are three types of land ownership in in Ghana: customary (you own it because community recognizes you do), state (legal documents), and combination (mixture of the two).  The customary owners do not even know exactly where their land ends and there are often conflicts over who really owns it, which complicates the matter even more.  Therefore sometimes the same piece of land is sold by two different people, also often communities with specific policies for letting outsiders use land will have their rules ignored and their land used without consulting them because their practices are not used or recognized by others.    The article goes on to discuss four case studies in Ngleshi-Amanfro, Abokobi, Nsakina, and Samsam-Odumasi.  They describe what type of changes in land use, property rights, and livelihoods have occurred for each.  The authors feel that stockholders in the land should have a say in the land development process and everyone should be involved and be able to participate in the decision making process.  They end by stating that the farmers are the real losers and a change in policy is urgently needed to remedy the situation.  This article is more interesting than it has a direct relevance to the Northfield area.  Of course the governing system in Ghana is quit different from the system which governs the U.S.  Cultural differences are also quit numerous.  These differences make it very difficult to compare the spread of urban sprawl and the effect it has on the rural communities in Ghana to Northfield.  However, the article is useful in further realizing that while Ghana is so very different from Northfield in these ways its farmers still face similar issues.  To see this in such different areas of the world really illustrates just how worldwide this spread of development is.  As populations rise people have to move out.           All of these articles focus on the spread of urban sprawl into rural areas.  Since the piece of land I researched had a history of farming and was then turned into a housing development the ideas brought out by this diverse collection of articles is very helpful in my analysis of the place.  The articles in the U.S. and Canada occur under conditions very similar to those found in Minnesota and give a framework in which to analyze the area of Northfield.  Especially the article about an area of minnesota is very near Northfield and therefore even more relevant.  The article in Ghana adds an international perspective on the issue but is not necessarily meant to be related directly to what has been seen in Northfield.