Neighborhood Participation Is Less Likely among Older Adults with Sidewalk Problems

Objectives: This cross-sectional study examines the association between perceived sidewalk conditions and neighborhood participation among older adults in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study. Methods: Between 2013–2016, 14,233 REGARDS participants completed a second in-home visit. Using logistic regression, we cross-sectionally examined if perceived severity of sidewalk problems was associated with going into the neighborhood less than once compared to 1–7 times per week. Results: The analytic sample included participants ( N = 9863) with nonmissing data. The likelihood of going into the neighborhood less than one time per week was greater among participants who reported minor (OR = 1.15; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.33), somewhat serious (OR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.17, 1.70), and very serious (OR = 1.65; 95% CI: 1.38, 1.98) sidewalk problems in their neighborhood compared to those reporting no sidewalk problems, independent of demographic, socioeconomic, and impairment characteristics. Discussion: Perceived sidewalk problems appear to deter neighborhood participation among older adults.

“To Plan Our Own Community”

This chapter examines the democratically planned state-sponsored projects that became possible due to the new banner of cooperation between government and grassroots organizers. It first provides an overview of the battle over community control of housing development before discussing a number of New York's War on Poverty initiatives such as the Upper Park Avenue Community Association (UPACA), along with their significance for community-based housing activism. It also considers efforts to involve African Americans in economic development, the involvement of women in grassroots development planning, and the creation of community development corporations (CDCs). Finally, it describes Model Cities, an urban initiative designed to engage “the community” by inviting neighborhood participation in planning and attacking many problems at once. The successful projects showed not only that democratic state-sponsored urban renewal was possible, but that New York's tenant history made a difference.

Deciphering the Civic Virtue of Communal Space

Drawing on a citywide survey of 39 urban neighborhoods and a qualitative case study of a neighborhood in Guangzhou, China, this research addresses how communal space, social capital, and neighborhood attachment (NA) jointly shape neighborhood participation (NP). Communal space is strongly and significantly associated with NP. Furthermore, we find that communal space is related to NP in two ways: promoting place-based social relations (the social-capital mechanism) and nurturing place attachment (the intrapsychic mechanism). These findings point to the significance of communal space as a civic focal point in community building and place making.