Assessments of Neighborhood Quality in Metropolitan America

Abstract

Two decades of research have advanced our understanding of the manner in which individuals perceive neighborhoods and how various aspects of neighborhoods affect the lives of residents. This investigation utilizes national survey data to ascertain which elements of neighborhoods affect overall levels of satisfaction with local residential environments, how often these elements are perceived as existing, and how often they are evaluated as bothersome. These questions are answered in a geographical framework that disaggregates the nation's metropolitan settlement system by two macrolevel components-size of settlement and centrality within settlements-and one microlevel component—the neighborhood itself. Global assessments of neighborhood quality are shown to be a function of centrality and (secondarily) of size, and of the mix of conditions perceived as existing in the local residential environment. Evidence for a geographical basis for policies concerning the quality of residential environments is found to be considerable.