Abstracts of Papers and Posters Presented at the 2006 APCG Meeting, Eugene, Oregon

Melinda Alexander, Arizona State University, Melinda.Alexander@asu.edu. Imagine That! Performing an Artistic Sense of Place in Downtown Phoenix. This paper examines the contestation, meaning, and identity of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, as articulated through monthly artwalks, and negotiated among artist activist groups, city officials, and developers. Phoenix, Arizona, is home to one of America's most uninspiring downtowns: the downtown core consists of large block developments, many inward-looking and unfriendly to street activity. As city officials and developers embark on the next phase of revitalization, attention turns to attracting the new knowledge economy and "small wonders" to create a strong regional center with unique attractions and address present functional problems, emphasizing fine-grained activities, pedestrian-friendly linkages, and connectivity between areas. This paper examines the growth of the independent arts community and arts activities, specifically the monthly artwalks and artist activist groups' participation in city planning and community meetings. Drawing from performativity and nonrepresentational theory, and building on DeCerteau's conception of walking as speech expression, and the Situationists' use of drifts and games to uncover and iterate potential and new meanings of the urban environment, I conceive of the monthly artwalks as performances of an alternative downtown identity.

Casey Allen, Arizona State University, case@asu.edu. Implementing an Online Masters of Advanced Study in Geographic Education for K–12 Educators. The No Child Left Behind Act requires K–12 teachers to become "highly qualified" in a subject area. K–12 teachers consistently search for ways to achieve the requisite number of credit hours. To meet this demand, Arizona State University has taken the first steps toward implementing a fully accredited, online, 30-credit hour Master of Advanced Study (MAS) degree in Geography Education. As the teaching of geography continues to expand in the K–12 arena, it is important to have teachers with formal training in geography. The proposed self-funded MAS-GE program at ASU provides K–12 teachers with a viable alternative to fulfill the "highly qualified" status required by NCLB and fits the needs of all K–12 teachers, even those with no previous formal training in geography. This presentation highlights the implementation process, required curriculum, and budget-related agendas.

James P. Allen, California State University, Northridge, james.allen@csun.edu; and Eugene Turner, California State University, Northridge, eugene.turner@csun.edu. The Economic Status of Ethnic Residential Concentrations. Are residents of concentrated ethnic settlements necessarily poor? We tested this notion with household income data from Census 2000 for Asians and Latinos in the New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco CMSAs. Concentrations were defined as census tracts in which the ethnic group comprised at least 40 percent of the total population. While very low incomes characterized many ethnic concentrations, 10 percent of concentrated Latino households and 57 percent of concentrated Asian households had incomes above the metropolitan medians for all households. Moreover, 18 percent of residentially concentrated Asian households had incomes at least 50 percent above their metropolitan medians. In contrast to expectations, the evidence indicates that many residents of ethnic residential concentrations have moderate or high incomes. Mapping demonstrates that most ethnically concentrated tracts were clustered together so as to produce large ethnic concentrations and that tract variations in median income within larger concentrations were widespread.

Michael Antos, University of Southern California, michael.antos@usc.edu. A Site Suitability Analysis for Stormwater Infiltration in Los Angeles, California. A site suitability analysis and kernel density estimator were used to locate areas within the city of Los Angeles most likely to benefit from the installation of stormwater infiltration infrastructure. The objectives of this project were to (1) determine which portions of the city were likely to have significant problems with stormwater runoff quantity and quality, and (2) locate areas to consider construction of infrastructure to clean and utilize stormwater runoff for increased groundwater recharge. Southern California Area Governments (SCAG) land-use data from 2001, classified using a modified Anderson Classification system, were condensed into eight categories of land use, each with distinct runoff and pollutant coefficients. Kernel density estimates of the quantity and quality of runoff in the...