Date of Submission

Spring 2017

Academic Programs and Concentrations

Sociology

Project Advisor 1

Yuval Elmelech

Abstract/Artist's Statement

Based on qualitative interviews in the South Bronx, a residentially segregated area in New York City notorious for its historically concentrated poverty and physical urban decay, this study explores lived experiences that reveal the impacts of living in an urban poor neighborhood on quality of life. Neighborhood attachment is one lens to evaluate residents’ subjective perceptions of quality of life in relation to objective qualities of neighborhoods. Contrary to previous research linking strong neighborhood attachment to wealthier residential environments, a majority of South Bronx residents who participated in this study share a fairly strong sense of neighborhood attachment. This study particularly focuses on the extent to which neighborhood attachment affects residents’ educational attainment and financial security. Findings of this study suggest the prevalence of social and economic inequalities that limit mobility regardless of how attached residents are to their respective neighborhood. Furthermore, an investigation of residents’ future aspirations and expectations confirms findings of neighborhood inequalities rooted in residential segregation, in which their opportunities are constrained by structural barriers to educational attainment and financial security.

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Open Access

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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