Drifting into Neighborhoods: Social Ties and Residential Decisions

• In Event: 325 - Regular Session. Housing Choice, Neighborhood Quality and Doubling Up

Abstract

The perpetuation of residential segregation in the U.S.—with its well-documented effects on children’s life chances—remains an enduring puzzle for sociologists. In light of this, it is surprising that relatively little research has attempted to explicate the micro-processes that lead to the distribution of families across segregated neighborhoods. Moreover, the literature that does exist is largely comprised of studies of poor families; very little is known about their working-class and middle-class counterparts. In this paper, we draw on qualitative interviews with 87 black and white families--with varying class backgrounds--who live in the city or suburbs of a northeastern metropolitan area to illuminate these process of neighborhood selection. We find remarkable consistency across these families. Our results highlight the role of informal social ties in pulling families towards specific neighborhoods. Some families chose neighborhoods because they wanted to be near kin or friends. In other instances, social ties were conduits for information, with coworkers, friends, and acquaintances vouching for the “quality” of particular destinations, and thereby steering families. Importantly, the networks from which these social ties were drawn appear to be heavily segregated by race and class. We therefore point to the role of informal social ties in perpetuating residential segregation.

Authors

• Elliot Weininger, State University of New York-Brockport

• Annette Lareau, University of Pennsylvania