Landscape Aesthetics and the Scenic Drivers of Amenity Migration in the New West: Naturalness, Visual Scale, and Complexity

Abstract

Values associated with scenic beauty are common "pull factors" for amenity migrants, however the specific landscape features that attract amenity migration are poorly understood. In this study we focused on three visual quality metrics of the intermountain West (USA), with the objective of exploring the relationship between the location of exurban homes and aesthetic landscape preference, as exemplified through greenness, viewshed size, and terrain ruggedness. Using viewshed analysis, we compared the viewsheds of actual exurban houses to the viewsheds of randomly-distributed simulated (validation) houses. We found that the actual exurban households can see significantly more vegetation and a more rugged (complex) terrain than simulated houses. Actual exurban homes see a more rugged terrain, but do not necessarily see the highest peaks, suggesting that visual complexity throughout the viewshed may be more important. The viewsheds visible from the actual exurban houses were significantly larger than those visible from the simulated houses, indicating that visual scale is important to the general aesthetic experiences of exurbanites. The differences in visual quality metric values between actual exurban and simulated viewsheds call into question the use of county-level scales of analysis for the study of landscape preferences, which may miss key landscape aesthetic drivers of preference.

Are Population and Land Use Changes Perceived as Threats to Sense of Place in the New West? A Multilevel Modeling Approach

“…Although the migration of residents to amenity-rich regions of the western United States has been observed for years, how the population growth has affected sense of place is not clear. Second home and "trophy home" developments have become increasingly common as both year-round and seasonal residents migrate for the recreational, aesthetic, and ecosystem values of the landscape (Vukomanovic and Orr 2014). However, population increases may "threaten" natural features and exurban lifestyles; not surprisingly, the number of land protection organizations has also increased, implying that there is "something" in need of protection (Keske 2008).…”

Protection status and proximity to public‐private boundaries influence land use intensification near U.S. parks and protected areas

“…The NAD ecoregion in particular, which includes the rapidly growing Arizona Sun Corridor (Phoenix‐Mesa‐Scottsdale metro area and Tucson) and the Las Vegas‐Henderson‐Paradise (NV), Salt Lake City (UT), Albuquerque (NM), and Boise City (ID) metropolitan areas has experienced the most rapid development around parks and protected areas (Figures and ). Some of the population growth propelling development around protected areas stems from amenity migration, where natural features and lifestyle drivers include scenic beauty (Gosnell & Abrams, ; Waltert & Schläpfer, ), expansive vistas (Vukomanovic & Orr, ), recreational opportunities (Hansen et al, ; Marcoullier, Clendenning, & Kedzior, ) and climate (McGranahan, ).…”

The Use of Crowdsourced Geographic Information for Spatial Evaluation of Cultural Ecosystem Services in the Agricultural Landscape: The Case of Chianti Classico (Italy)

“…It includes all the surrounding points within the line-of-sight of an assumed viewer's location and excludes points that are obstructed by the terrain or by other features. Viewshed research has been instrumental to the understanding of the scenic values associated with residential development (Vukomanovic and Orr, 2014) and to the relationship between aesthetic values and landscape patterns (Schirpke et al, 2016). However, the difficulty in identifying the subject of appreciation within the viewshed has unfortunately led many studies to resort to the best guess regarding the precise location of the appreciated areas (Schirpke et al, 2016;Yoshimura and Hiura, 2017).…”