How neighborhoods came to matter more over time: A broad historical sketch

The demise of neighbourhood-scale community has been lamented for decades. Tight-knit neighboring has indeed declined. However, its significance is colored by nostalgia. In cities and suburbs, the loosening of neighborhoods has encouraged residents and agents to create imaginary local communities, partly by fashioning local traditions. In changed form, community persists. Underlying it, for those able to choose, are individualistic calculations. With increasing homeownership more people have a financial stake in place, the investment aspects becoming prominent since the 1980s. Because most children attend local schools, the growing importance of education has made them a major factor in neighborhood choice, with financial implications. In counterpoint, lower-income households with little choice are constrained to neighborhoods where the disadvantages of crime, poor mobility, and indifferent schools are exacerbated by growing wealth inequality. The concept and reality of neighborhoods have never been more important, in urban studies and in urban life.