Community Concern for Pollution

Abstract

A study of 940 residents of the city of Chicago was done in order to assess the social and environmental influences on community concern for pollution. It was found that attitudes toward pollution are influenced by the social characteristics of the community, specifically the housing quality and the degree of neighborhood stability-high mobility rates coupled with high densities. This was true regardless of the racial composition of the community. This suggests that the low-status communities, both Black and white, exhibit more concern about pollution than their high-status counterparts. Environmental quality was also found to be an influence on community concern. There was a high correlation between solid waste levels and community concern as well as an inverse relationship between distance to Lake Michigan and community concern. This suggests that pollution attitudes can be predicated on the basis of solid waste levels and nearness to Lake Michigan. Finally, the relative importance of the social and environmental influences was evaluated. It was found that each is equally important in the prediction of community concern.