The Rise of Ranchurbia: Visualizing Landscapes of a New West

Once an exclusive resort town phenomenon, the now widespread conversion of ranchland into smaller five-acre parcels has patterned a new landscape of rurality typified by a wave of inhabitants demanding higher urban-quality services. Contemporary and historical images create a narrative that visualizes the trend toward ranchurbia. This trend toward ranchurbia is observable across the American West, but is exemplified in the case of Spring Creek (eastern Nevada) where unregulated sprawl now frames a once pastoral portal to Elko County’s scenic Ruby Mountain range. Documented through striking, visually complex landscape photographs this narrative reveals a historic shift in land use at the Lamoille Canyon site; a place blessed and cursed by aridity.