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Liscio_History_Dissertation.pdf (1.47 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

“If You Build It, Where Will They Go?” Sports Stadiums, Civic Pride, And Neighborhood Displacement, 1930-1970”

Liscio, Stephanie Marie
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0645-0048
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1523312836501394

Abstract Details

2018, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, History.
In cities across the United States there has been an epidemic of new stadium and arena construction since the 1990s. The vast majority of these new structures were built with a share of public funding, despite the fact that a majority of team owners are independently wealthy. However, this was not always the case when it came to stadiums. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the vast majority of new stadiums were built with private funding. After World War II there was a shift toward municipally funded structures that were connected to urban renewal programs. This dissertation looks at that post-war period of stadium construction, and the impact of these municipal stadiums on urban communities. The urban landscape began to change in the post-World War II United States, as large numbers of white residents fled to the suburbs. At the same time, African American residents often remained trapped in deteriorating urban neighborhoods thanks to numerous restrictive housing covenants. Urban renewal plans often targeted these areas, as city officials labeled them “blighted” and discussed the need for “slum removal.” In a number of cities, these plans called for the construction of sports stadiums in these “blighted” urban neighborhoods. Sports teams were viewed as an important component of civic pride, and officials believed that sports and the new stadiums were important to the civic identity of their communities. New stadiums and arenas in three different cities are the focus of this study – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Los Angeles, California; and Atlanta, Georgia. In Pittsburgh, a post-war urban renewal program dubbed the “Renaissance” targeted an African American neighborhood and included the construction of an arena, and a multi-purpose stadium. A publicly-funded stadium in Atlanta also destroyed an African American neighborhood, while a stadium constructed with a combination of public and private funds displaced the residents of a Mexican-American neighborhood in Los Angeles. These three cities, like many across the United States, saw urban communities negatively impacted by the new stadium construction. These stadiums were supposed to help revitalize the city and boost the local economy, but they often did the exact opposite.
John Grabowski (Committee Chair)
Rhonda Williams (Committee Member)
John Flores (Committee Member)
Timothy Black (Committee Member)
278 p.
History
stadium; sports; Pittsburgh; Los Angeles; Atlanta; Milwaukee; urban neighborhoods

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Liscio, S. M. (2018). “If You Build It, Where Will They Go?” Sports Stadiums, Civic Pride, And Neighborhood Displacement, 1930-1970” [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1523312836501394

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Liscio, Stephanie. “If You Build It, Where Will They Go?” Sports Stadiums, Civic Pride, And Neighborhood Displacement, 1930-1970”. 2018. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1523312836501394.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Liscio, Stephanie. "“If You Build It, Where Will They Go?” Sports Stadiums, Civic Pride, And Neighborhood Displacement, 1930-1970”." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1523312836501394

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1523312836501394
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This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.