First Name:
Clary
Last Name:
Franko
Major Department:
Geography & Planning
Thesis Director:
Chris Badurek
Date of Thesis:
May 2010
The Watauga County Farmers Market (WCFM) has been located in the Horn in the West lot for 34 years and its lease is ending in December, 2011. The market is now faced with finding a new location within the Town of Boone. The WCFM has created a new location search committee and has examined three proposed sites within the town. This thesis has developed an assessment tool based on important site factors to help identify a location for the WCFM through four processes of data collection and analysis. First, available literature was analyzed to identify the most important siting criteria, second, interviews were conducted with WCFM vendors to identify their siting desires, and third, two comparable farmers markets in the region were visited and their siting conditions assessed. Lastly, these three sources of recommendations for the new location were integrated into a GIS site analysis to show suitable sites in the Town of Boone for the WCFM. The literature analysis established the significance of farmers markets for the local economy, connecting people to their region through the food they eat, and improving health ofthe land and people. Factors identified through the literature analysis stressed visibility of the farmers market from major roads, access to utilities, surface of the site, size of the site with adequate parking, and proximity of the farmers market to other land uses. Interviews with WCFM vendors stressed parking as the number one priority, with atmosphere and beauty of the location to uphold the unique values of Boone, space for lingering and music to maintain the WCFM as an event not just a place to shop, and proximity to recreational areas and other attractions as the next most important factors. Site assessment analysis from visits to two Appalachian-region college town farmers markets, the Blacksburg and Harrisonburg Farmers Markets both in Virginia, validated the need for adequate parking and space for lingering and music at the market. The GIS site suitability analysis integrated data from these three inputs, but qualitative data such as atmosphere and visibility were not able to be included. The analysis was beneficial, however, and the findings of appropriate potential locations included the current Horn in the West lot, as well as two of the three sites currently being considered by the WCFM as well as additional potential sites located within the town. This research is valuable for its application towards helping the WCFM find its new location and for helping farmers markets in the region choose appropriate locations. Findings from this research may help farmers markets assess their top siting criteria and create a ranking for their own priorities as well as use GIS to identify potential locations evaluated based on each individual market's ranking of siting criteria.