Developing mixed-income communities has drawn increased attention from sociologists and other researchers in recent years, generating sharp debates over equitable access, the nature of community, and the role of policy. Debates over social relations and social influence in mixed-income communities have often overlooked what formal institutions-as opposed to race, class, and other predictors of informal neighboring-contribute to social life. This study uses ethnographic fieldwork, document analysis, and semistructured interviews in a mixed-income housing community in Boston to examine the forces shaping relationships within and across social boundaries. The results show how formal structuring of the community dissuaded interaction among neighbors. Buttressed by macrostructural forces, the private management company that ran the development discouraged interaction through rules, social signaling, and explicit communication. INTRODUCTION Studies of informal community life dominate research on residential communities. Contemporary ethnographies and survey work have explored the dynamics among residents of poor neighborhoods, public housing projects, gentrifying enclaves, and middle-class

No abstract

No abstract

This study examines parental participation in children’s schooling. Using a survey of parents of children attending a majority Hispanic school district, we employ exploratory factor analysis and determine that standard forms of participation align along two dimensions: Involvement and Engagement. Analysis reveals a third dimension: Parental Community. The data suggest that income but not educational attainment influence Involvement, whereas family circumstances correlate best with Engagement. Households with the closest proximity to a Spanish-language/immigrant culture feel the strongest sense of Parental Community. The findings may inform the design of programming to help involve parents more fully in their children’s schooling.

Background: Physical activity has a strong positive impact on both physical and mental health, and public health interventions often encourage walking as a means to promote physical activity. Social connectivity, such as that among spouses, families, friends, and colleagues, highly influences physical activity. Although technology-based interventions have some influence on human behavior, they have not been fully implemented and evaluated for their influence on walking through social connectivity. Objective: We aimed to pilot-test the organization of neighborhood walking clubs and use of a mobile app (Runkeeper) to encourage social connectedness and neighborhood cohesion, as well as to increase physical activity. Methods: We used a convenience sampling method to recruit 46 adults from an urban location in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. We assigned participants to teams based on their geographic location and neighborhood and required them to use the app (Runkeeper). Participants completed 2 self-administered web-based surveys before and after the intervention period. The surveys included standard measures to evaluate physical activity, social connectedness, perceived social support, and neighborhood cohesion (Buckner Neighborhood Cohesion Scale) before and after the intervention. Following the intervention, we randomly selected 14 participants to participate in postintervention, in-depth phone interviews to gain an understanding of their experiences.