Hispanic-Latino/a Youth Geographies of Commercial Space and Place in Wells Avenue, Reno, Nevada

Commercial spaces are often sites of history, culture, community, and change (Hayden, 1995; Steigemann, 2019). Studying the individual attachments people feel within commercial spaces through experience, connection, and community engages how the process of change that occurs within culturally significant commercial spaces is interpreted. This study looks at the Wells Avenue commercial District in Reno, Nevada, which has been home to many Hispanic-Latino/a communities since the 1990s (Berry, 2004), and is now experiencing substantial change through preservation, conservation, and commercial revitalization efforts (Majewski, 2015; Palma & Ocampo, 2021). Today, Wells Avenue is seen by many as a space which is gentrifying; meaning that its recent ethnic roots as a site of working class Hispanic and Latino/a community is being displaced (Palma, 2021). For others, Wells Avenue is growing, redeveloping, and creating new opportunities for investment (Hidalgo, 2021). In a District characterized by conflicting perceptions of space and its meaning, I examine the experiences of Hispanic-Latino/a young adults to investigate how young people of color interpret and imagine change in Wells Avenue. This research argues that the effects of spatial processes like gentrification in commercial space through the Hispanic-Latino/a youth is nuanced and embraces both disadvantages and benefits for established communities. By examination of Hispanic-Latino/a young adult experiences, interpretations, and imaginations of commercial change in Wells Avenue, results show that this is a space of cultural importance, "bittersweet" change, and an inclusive and multicultural future.

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's Degree

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Rodriguez-Hart, Francesca Renee

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Clark, Jessie H

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Kelley, Scott
• Mitchell, Sarah
• Rios, Victoria

• Commercial
• Gentrification
• Hispanic-Latino/a
• Individual Experience
• Sense of Place
• Young Adult

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11714/10531

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarwolf.unr.edu:11714/10531