Suburban Place? Constructing Place in Overland Park, Kansas

Abstract

Do suburbs like Overland Park, Kansas possess a "sense of place?" This thesis not only attempts to transcend the misrepresentations of suburbs as "placelessness," it also attempts to examine suburbs as places, thus examining people's experience with "place," its functions, and its symbolic meanings. This thesis examines the early development of the built environment in downtown Overland Park, the attempt to preserve that same landscape as a vital economic and social environment by organizing a Business Improvement District, and the evidence through the attachment to some symbolic buildings, such as the Glenwood Theatre, that some residents of Overland Park have developed a "sense of place."