GGP Seminar: Dr. Krista Evans - "Rural Planning and the Amish Community"

Dr. Krista Evans is a Missouri State University assistant professor and the director of planning & geography in the GGP department. Her research interests include the tiny house movement and rural planning.

The presentation will include how the Amish population is growing and spreading rapidly in much of the rural United States. Dr. Evans writes, "This subpopulation practices a way of life that differs greatly from the rural majority. For example, relying on the horse and buggy for travel and using the home for both residential and commercial purposes." Very little research has been conducted from a planning perspective on the land use and community issues that may arise as a result of the differing paradigms of land use between the majority rural population and the Amish subculture. This research is interested in how rural places in Missouri accommodate the growing Amish population and incorporate the resulting changes into their planning processes. It focuses specifically on the communities in rural Missouri that are experiencing growth and/or inmigration of Amish populations and community and land use planning. This qualitative inquiry has resulted in a greater understanding of how this growing ethnoreligious minority is impacting the landscape and planning practices of rural Missouri.

Free