AbstactVarious studies have hypothesized that neighborhood attachment -defined as a multidimensional concept composed of attitudes, neighboring, and problem solvingislinked to local stressors in ways thatvaryby thetype ofattachment underexamination. My studyanalyzes theeffects offour stressors on sixdimensions ofattachment and shows that social and physical disorder as wellas experiences with victimizationand crime do not uniformly decrease individual neighborhood attachment. Social disorder has the most widespread negative impact on different types of neighborhood attachment. My results also show that victimizationand perceptions of crimeaffect onlyproblem solving; indeed, they actually increase thisform of attachment. Thisfinding suggests thata multidimensional approach to neighborhood attachment isuseful, especially when applied to theories of social disorganization and loss of community.Do experiences and perceptions of negative neighborhood conditions necessarily result in diminished attachment to one's community? Researchers since Tonnies ([1887([ ] 1963([ ) and Wirth (1938 have contended that stressful aspects of the local urban environment generate weaker feelings about -and social connections to -one's community. More recent studies have explored the contention that poor neighborhood conditions diminish the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that demonstrate commitment to one's local area

No abstract

The Ohio State UniversityThis is a study of community conflict over an attempt by the power elite at urban redevelopment through the construction of a stadium and an arena at public expense. The facilities would be for the use and profit of private sector hockey and soccer franchises. Our analysis of the conflict is guided by three theoretical perspectives: competitive framing analysis, social action theory, and the sociospatial perspective. In this paper our primary focus is on frame analysis as we discuss the contested referendum for public funding for the planned sports facilities. Our goal is to determine why the economically and politically powerful pro-development forces lost the vote to a lightly funded and loose coalition of ideologically diverse citizen groups. We especially focus on the role in the conflict of the contentious issue framing and counterframing activities engaged in by the two combatant sides. In our discussion we add insights from the socio-spatial and social action perspectives to those from frame analysis. Together the three perspectives provide a valuable analytical framework for issues of community conflict over growth and development. Although in the case under discussion the popular opposition was able to defeat the power elite at the ballot box, the elite were able to build their projects through a combination of their own funds and public dollars not subject to voter approval. The success of the opposition in the frame alignment of their position with the voters has provided an action model for oppositional groups in other cities.

Ray Oldenburg (1989) developed the concept of third places as environments that offer friendship and a sense of community. However, the idealized image of the coffee house may need revision. In recent decades coffee houses have transformed from small-scale businesses to corporate-owned franchises, and with the advent of personal electronic devices many people now use them to work rather than to socialize. Using unobtrusive observation data from three independently-owned and three chain-based coffee houses in the Boston area, this research examines the ways in which modern coffee houses live up to or defy Oldenburg's social expectations of a third place. Two key findings reveal that: 1) people increasingly use coffee houses as both a social sphere and a private zone to work, read, and use electronic devices; and 2) chain coffee houses, though often criticized for their sanitized lack of character, may better meet customers' new third place needs by providing a wider variety of amenities (e.g., types of seating, food, and media) and free services that are in high demand (e.g., Wi-Fi).

This is a US investigation of the relationship between individuals' neighbourhood characteristics and their familial and socioeconomic resources—with special emphasis on wealth. Spatial assimilation theorists propose that racial/ethnic differences in where people live can be explained by the demographic, economic and familial characteristics of individuals, while place stratification theorists argue that group differences in neighbourhood characteristics are not fully explained by personal resources. There is evidence for the persisting effects of race/ethnicity on locational attainment, but support is also found for wealth influences on locational attainment. In addition, there is evidence of an interaction effect between race and wealth in predicting neighbourhood racial composition and neighbourhood SES, but the nature of the interaction varies by group and outcome.