Living in a threatening, noxious, and dangerous neighborhood may produce anxiety, anger, and depression because it is subjectively alienating. We hypothesize that neighborhood disorder represents ambient threat that elicits perceptions of powerlessness, normlessness, mistrust, and isolation. These perceptions in turn lead to anxious and angry…

Distressed urban neighborhoods face challenges on multiple fronts, but most efforts to confront these problems work in isolation of one another. The New Communities Program (NCP) is an exception, helping selected Chicago neighborhoods develop partnerships to address challenges involving employment, education, housing, and safety in a…

Economic explanations do not fully account for the vitality of the Gifford (Illinois) business district. Case study demonstrates how a cohesive, persistent German American community generates and maintains a sense of place for Main Street, and examines the vital social role that Main Street plays in the maintenance of community. (TD)

This article presents a case in which age was isolated as a highly significant factor affecting reported community satisfaction. Authors explain the findings as the result of four factors: (1) selective migration, (2) influence of length of residence, (3) acceptance of one's surroundings as one ages, and (4) rising expectations among the younger…

The populations of Mexican Americans and other Latinos in Berwyn and Cicero, Illinois--two of Chicago's oldest suburbs--have increased dramatically in the last decade. This needs assessment interviewed 172 people individually and in 19 focus groups. Findings indicate that education, children, and youth were the top priorities for Latinos and…