Most people who grew up in the early 1950s have numerous memories of living in a pleasant and welcoming neighborhood. As children, they had social interaction with others and a sense of community with their neighbors. When becoming parents themselves, their neighborhoods were perceived as safe and they automatically looked out for one another. Neighborhood satisfaction is measured by a respondent’s answer to the question: “on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the neighborhood as a place to live?” Even though the statistics and profiles may not always be accurate, every neighborhood has its own diverse look, feel, and character.
Finding the right neighborhood is a huge factor in determining the success of a major move. Because we all have different needs, tastes and lifestyles, there is no “best neighborhood.” One person’s paradise might be another’s dungeon. Creating compatibility between buildings, street, and neighborhood through architectural elements add scale and character. The geography of the neighborhood provides a framework within which the physical features, such as the quality of housing and the presence or absence of basic resources, including hospitals, markets, and reliable public transportation. The community tends to become the focal point for its residents, businesses and its visitors. Keeping in mind every neighborhood does not have the same opportunities as the next.
Community development is a skilled process that enables a neighborhood to grow and change and to develop toward its full potential. The appearance of a neighborhood can directly improve and enhance these elements, features, and details that reflect the community’s local character and set it apart from other neighborhoods. People prefer a community that has its own distinct personality over one that lacks liveliness, individuality, or special interests. Bringing awareness about a community’s appearance will keep the neighborhood more economically prosperous.
Part of your economic development strategy should be an attractive range of housing options. Adding different elements to building structures such as, porches, landscaping, new streets, and sidewalks provide benefits to our health, our finances, the environment and our communities. A neighborhood should be able to provide its residents with the convenience of having housing, jobs, local shops, parks, and other activities within walking distance or transit stops. Creating communities that have a variety of functional attributes that contribute to everyone’s day - to - day living, promoting sustainability for local economies.
With the economic conditions today, it seems that crime is everywhere you look. You have to keep in mind that there is no such place as a completely safe neighborhood. There are many factors that can increase crime rates in our communities, including high levels of drug and alcohol use, low economic growth, poverty, and ineffective police systems. By taking into consideration these social demographics and the geographical factors of each individual neighborhood you can attempt to make some valid assessments on crime. The transience of the population, its racial and ethnic makeup, its composition by age and gender, educational levels, and prevalent family structures are all key factors in assessing and comprehending the crime issue.
Studies have illustrated that crime and delinquency, education, psychological distress, and various health problems, among many other issues, are affected by neighborhood characteristics. While it is almost to maintain a crime-free neighborhood there are several options that people can get involved in to do their part in creating a safe environment. Residents can work together by keeping an eye out for strangers, starting a neighborhood watch, and building trusting relationships with their neighbors and law enforcement. Something that people ask themselves before moving into a particular community may be, does the neighborhood promote security from crime, and is it perceived as safe, after all, the absence of crime makes a neighborhood a more ideal place to live.
The quality of local schools plays an important role in the home buying and selling decisions for families with school aged children. Understanding the economic value of improved school quality can and should initiate discussion among policy makers on how schools can improve neighborhoods and how neighborhoods can improve schools. Variation in social background is a far more potent predictor of differences in achievement and attainment than variation among the schools that students attend. In today’s society technology is very important in a student’s education because it provides the necessary resources for him or her to learn. Education affects every part of our lives. For the majority of people your education level will determine your income level, your place in the class system, and even your health.
Every parent desires a quality education for their child/children in hopes to send them forth fully prepared to meet life’s challenges. What we do know is that a quality education comes from a high level of parent and community involvement and support. Research and field work shows that parent-school-relationships improve schools, strengthens families, and builds community support, and increases student achievement and success. Every neighborhood should have quality schools and family friendly housing options affordable for a range of income levels.
Choosing the right neighborhood can have an enormous impact on both your family and the future value of your home. Whether anyone likes it or not price is always a determining factor when buying a home. Housing affordability consists of a god balance between the cost of housing and the incomes of the people who live in the area. . Having chosen your current neighborhood due to financial reasons turns out to have a significant negative effect on neighborhood satisfaction. Those who chose their neighborhood for financial reasons are less likely to report high neighborhood satisfaction than those who chose their neighborhood for other reasons. These results also support previous findings that suggest due to tighter budgets and the limited availability of affordable housing, lower income families are likely to reside in neighborhoods in which they are not fully satisfied and thus, choice may not be fully realized.
In conclusion, every neighborhood has something to offer. Your neighborhood is not your fate, of course. The relationship among income, education, personal choices, cultural attitudes, services, transportation, parks and safety is so complex that oversimplifying cause-and-effect can be misleading. Keeping in mind that sometimes we just need to be reminded of what is important to each resident within our communities. Finally, every community has a diverse look, feel and character for two main reasons. First, is the composition and environment in the neighborhood, but most important because of the difference in school quality, crime rates, and housing costs.

References: NEA Education Policy and Practice Dept./ Center for Great Public Schools pg.1(2008), George C. Galster, “The Mechanism(s) of Neighborhood Effects: Theory, Evidence, and Policy Implications.” Presentation at the ESRC Seminar, St. Andrews University, Scotland, UK, Feb. 4-5th 2010, Talidari: Designed by Talidari : Powered by SBI (2007)- Top 10 Causes of Crime- FBI List