Reno’s Neon Line: Studying the production of new urban space through autoethnography

Keywords: Production of space, gentrification, auto-ethnography, Nevada,
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

The ‘Neon Line’ is an urban redevelopment project in downtown Reno, led by the city and developers Jacobs Entertainment. The landscape of 4th street which is to become the Neon Line is being dramatically changed as people, homes and businesses are removed in pursuit of urban revitalization. Locals have been voicing their concerns with the vagueness of the developer’s plans. The project is producing a space that is very different from the one represented by Jacob’s or the city in the media. The purpose of this project is to understand the urban production of space in the Neon Line district through autoethnography. Autoethnography is a research methodology that involves analyzing and interpreting lived experience of the researcher. It connects insights from the field to the positionality of the researcher. We are three geographers who have different cultural experiences, economic situations and tenures in the city. Each researcher conducted multiple walking site visits on the Neon Line, walking along the district's new pedestrian path, taking notes and photographs to document our experiences that shaped spatial practices within the Neon Line District. We aim to produce meaningful and evocative research of space and place grounded in personal experience. From our preliminary research we believe autoethnography as a geographic field method has the potential to bring together representations of space, spatial practices and deepend feminist self reflexivity and empathy.