Does the place where you lived as a child affect your health as an
adult? To what degree does your neighbor's success influence your own
potential? The importance of place is increasingly recognized in urban
research as an important variable in understanding individual and
household outcomes. Place matters in education, physical health, crime,
violence, housing, family income, mental health, and
discrimination--issues that determine the quality of life, especially
among low-income residents of urban areas.
Neighborhood and Life Chances: How Place Matters in Modern America
brings together researchers from a range of disciplines to present the
findings of studies in the fields of education, health, and housing. The
results are intriguing and surprising, particularly the debate over
Moving to Opportunity, an experiment conducted by the Department of
Housing and Urban Development, designed to test directly the effects of
relocating individuals away from areas of concentrated poverty. Its
results, while strong in some respects, showed very different outcomes
for boys and girls, with girls more likely than boys to experience
positive outcomes. Reviews of the literature in education and health,
supplemented by new research, demonstrate that the problems associated
with residing in a negative environment are indisputable, but also
suggest the directions in which solutions may lie.
The essays collected in this volume give readers a clear sense of the
magnitude of contemporary challenges in metropolitan America and of the
role that place plays in reinforcing them. Although the contributors
suggest many practical immediate interventions, they also recognize the
vital importance of continued long-term efforts to rectify place-based
limitations on lifetime opportunities.
