Community Neighboring Norms and the Prevalence and Management of Private Neighbor Problems

Abstract

Neighbor relations are informal social ties that constitute part of everyday urban life. While the benefits of neighborliness are well established, less is known about the manifestation of private neighbor nuisances. Specifically, research examining the influence of community social contexts on the propensity for neighbor nuisances and the resolution of nuisance issues through informal pathways remains limited. Drawing on a stratified sample of over 4,000 residents living in 147 communities, we conducted multilevel regression analyses to examine the impact of individual-level neighboring behavior and community-level norms of neighboring on the likelihood of (1) individuals experiencing neighbor nuisances and (2) individuals responding to neighbor nuisances informally. We found that community-level neighborliness and structural characteristics were associated with the likelihood of experiencing private neighbor nuisance issues as opposed to individual-level neighboring behaviors. Individual-level social ties in the community and neighboring were significantly associated with individual responses to neighbor nuisance issues.