Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Social Consequences of Neighborhood Economic Diversity

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

SES-0928252 Christopher Jencks Laura Tach Harvard University Residential economic segregation is modest relative to racial segregation in most U.S. metropolitan areas, which implies that there are many economically diverse neighborhoods. Researchers have not seriously investigated this economic diversity within neighborhoods, however, focusing instead on neighborhoods at the extremes of the income distribution characterized by concentrated poverty or affluence. This leaves many assumptions, but little empirical evidence, about the social dynamics within economically diverse neighborhoods. The study uses a mixed-method research design to study whether and how neighborhood economic diversity influences the psychological, interpersonal, organizational, and spatial dimensions of neighborhood life. Specifically, the research studies whether residents of economically diverse and homogenous neighborhoods differ in their attitudes towards their neighbors, the level and content of their neighborhood engagement, and their perceptions and use of neighborhood space. At the community level, the research looks at whether economically diverse and homogenous neighborhoods differ in their institutional and organizational diversity and whether there is cross-class overlap in the use of these organizations and other neighborhood spaces. Finally, the research examine whether the social dynamics of economically diverse neighborhoods vary based on their racial diversity. The research combines multiple sources of quantitative data on the economic conditions and the social and organizational features of Boston neighborhoods. It then uses qualitative in-depth interviews of Boston residents in four neighborhoods that vary in their economic and racial diversity to uncover how the associations observed in the quantitative analyses manifest themselves in residents? daily lives and discern why residents say they act in the manner that they do. This dissertation research makes several contributions to sociological knowledge, public policy, and the welfare of local communities. It shifts attention away from the traditional focus on high poverty neighborhoods and toward a broader examination of the income distribution within neighborhoods. This creates possibilities for new theoretical insights and empirical findings on how neighborhood economic and racial contexts affect individual and collective wellbeing. By identifying local practices and organizational features that limit or enhance the development of cross-class ties, this project may suggest policies that could support the successful economic integration of neighborhoods. The research also speaks to the large-scale mixed-income redevelopment projects currently taking place across America by documenting the struggles involved in creating and maintaining such communities and detailing what we might reasonably expect from efforts to disperse poverty through mixed-income development.