The Manifestation of Neighborhood Effects: A Pattern for Community Growth?

Jorden E Jackson,Lance D Erickson,Michael R Cope,Scott R Sanders,Ralph B Brown,Tippe Morlan

doi:10.3390/soc10010016

Abstract

Neighborhood effects, or the development of community by neighborhoods, are often studied in an urban context. Previous research has neglected to examine the influence of neighborhoods in nonurban settings. Our case study, however, contributes to the existing literature as it takes place in a small, rural-to-urban town at an important point in time where the town was urbanizing. We find that neighborhood effects also influence community satisfaction and attachment in Creekdale, an urbanizing town. Using survey data (N = 1006) drawn from the Creekdale Community Citizens Viewpoint Survey (CCVS), we find that, contrary to conventional wisdom, population size and density does not matter necessarily for an individual’s community attachment and satisfaction; community experience is shaped by neighborhood effects.

Highlights

To what degree are size, density, and community organization indicators of neighborhood effects on residents’ sense of community? We show that the development of community by neighborhoods is not just an urban phenomenon, but rather that rural and small towns develop community via neighborhoods
The idea of living in a smaller place is automatically correlated with the presence of one large community: “the assumed connection of rural towns with community was often supported by social experience, and it was universally compatible with small town mythology that has been so influential in American history” [9] (p. 10)
We found the following variables reflecting residents’ attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to have a significant F-test at the p < 0.05 level: attachment, satisfaction

Summary

Introduction

We show that the development of community by neighborhoods is not just an urban phenomenon, but rather that rural and small towns develop community via neighborhoods. Problems commonly experienced in urban areas dominate the literature of community and neighborhood effects, stemming from the development of the Chicago School of. It has long been assumed that the experience of community manifests differently in small towns and in urban areas. By examining the presence of neighborhood differentiation within a small and growing town, we show in our case study that community is created via the same social processes that are theorized to occur in urban neighborhoods. It is the neighborhood effects that significantly influence measures of community experience

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion