Mapping ambivalence: Exploring the geographies of community change and rails-to-trails development using photo-based Q method and PPGIS Timothy Hawthorne a, * , John Krygier b , Mei-Po Kwan a a Department of Geography, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210-1361, USA b Department of Geology and Geography, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH 43015, USA Received 19 September 2006; received in revised form 19 October 2007 Abstract As the literature on trail development suggests, recreational trail projects can generate conflicts and controversies, particularly when built on abandoned rail corridors through developed areas. These conflicts are often understood as ‘‘not in my back yard” (NIMBY) reactions, suggesting a spatial proximity to conflict which increases as one draws closer to the proposed trail. This research seeks to understand local residents’ perceptions and reactions to recreational trail development in the City of Delaware (Ohio, USA). It addresses two spatially infused questions: Does the potential for conflict related to trail development increase as people live closer to a potential trail (the NIMBY factor)? Can important qualitative factors about favorable and unfavorable land uses including potential recreational trail sites be defined using a participatory methodology and then represented in GIS? The study used a mixed-method approach to collect and analyze qualitative data from a group of local residents. Each participant was interviewed and asked to sort 19 pictures related to trail development. After each of the sorts, participants were asked to explain why they ranked the pictures the way they did. Results of the picture sorts were then analyzed using Q method and mapped with GIS. The results show that spatial proximity matters in the con- text of trail development and potential NIMBY reactions to trails. Significant differences were found in the picture sorts that reveal the importance of proximity and location, although in a manner contrary to the assumptions in the writings on rails-to-trails. Through com- bining qualitative methods, Q analysis and PPGIS analysis, the research shows that qualitative place-based studies are capable of gen- erating insights about the complexities of situated geographic change such as recreational trail development. Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: GIS; Qualitative method; Q method; PPGIS; Recreational trails; Ohio 1. Introduction Recreational trails are curious phenomena: despite seeming innocuous, they can generate conflict and contro- versy, particularly as they are built on abandoned rail cor- ridors or through already developed areas. Trails, the literature on trail development suggests, generate ‘‘not in my back yard” (NIMBY) reactions, embodying a geogra- phy of conflict which increases as one draws closer to the proposed or developing trail. Recreational trails, then, have a substantive geographic component, from the simple (lines through space) to the complex (the social, cultural, and economic spaces bisected by trails, and the spatial vari- ations in NIMBY responses). Thus recreational trails or potential trails may be mapped, planned, and implemented with the aid of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS is by no means a new tool for determining ideal locations for linear features such as recreational trails. GIS is particularly good at representing tangible, visible phenomena in the environment (such as roads, terrain, 0016-7185/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2007.11.006 * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: hawthorne.20@osu.edu (T. Hawthorne), jbkrygier@ owu.edu (J. Krygier), kwan.8@osu.edu (M.-P. Kwan). www.elsevier.com/locate/geoforum Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Geoforum 39 (2008) 1058–1078