What is a Neighborhood all about? We all live in Neighborhoods in
one regard or another but do we know why? Do we consciously make an effort to live in one particular Neighborhood vs another? Do we know the types of people that live in our neighborhood or what they like to do? If I’m like most, my answer is I know alot less than I should about the people I live around, I barely know people two houses down let alone further. The real question should be why? Why don’t we spend more time getting to know the people that live so close to us?
In doing some research, here are the origins of where the word “Neighborhood” came from taken from various sources:
Origin and History:
Modern sense of “community of people who live close together” is first recorded 1620s. Phrase in the neighborhood of meaning “near, somewhere about” is first recorded 1857, Amer.Eng. The O.E. word for “neighborhood” was neahdæl
Definition:
A district or locality, often with reference to its character or inhabitants: a fashionable neighborhood; to move to a nicer neighborhood.
PreIndustrial Cities
In the words of the urban scholar Lewis Mumford, “Neighborhoods, in some primitive, inchoate fashion exist wherever human beings congregate, in permanent family dwellings; and many of the functions of the city tend to be distributed naturally—that is, without any theoretical preoccupation or political direction—into neighbourhoods.” [1] Most of the earliest cities around the world as excavated by archaeologists have evidence for the presence of social neighbourhoods.[2] Historical documents shed light on neighbourhood life in numerous historical preindustrial or nonwestern cities.[3]
Neighbourhoods are typically generated by social interaction among people living near one another. In this sense they are local social units larger than households not directly under the control of city or state officials. In some preindustrial urban traditions, basic municipal functions such as protection, social regulation of births and marriages, cleaning and upkeep are handled informally by neighbourhoods and not by urban governments; this pattern is well documented for historical Islamic cities.[4]
In addition to social neighbourhoods, most ancient and historical cities also had administrative districts used by officials for taxation, record-keeping, and social control.[5] Administrative districts are typically larger than neighbourhoods and their boundaries may cut across neighbourhood divisions. In some cases, however, administrative districts coincided with neighbourhoods, leading to a high level of regulation of social life by officials. For example, in the T’ang period Chinese capital city Chang’an, neighbourhoods were districts and there were state officials who carefully controlled life and activity at the neighbourhood level.[6]
Neighbourhoods in preindustrial cities often had some degree of social specialization or differentiation. Ethnic neighbourhoods were important in many past cities and remain common in cities today. Economic specialists, including craft producers, merchants, and others, could be concentrated in neighbourhoods, and in societies with religious pluralism neighbourhoods were often specialized by religion. One factor contributing to neighbourhood distinctiveness and social cohesion in past cities was the role of rural to urban migration. This was a continual process in preindustrial cities, and migrants tended to move in with relatives and acquaintances from their rural past.[7]
Sociology
Neighbourhoods have several advantages as areas for policy analysis as well as an arena for social action:
- Neighbourhoods are common, and perhaps close to universal, since most people in urbanised areas would probably consider themselves to be living in one.
- Neighbourhoods are convenient, and always accessible, since you are already in your neighbourhood when you walk out your door.
- Successful neighbourhood action frequently requires little specialised technical skill, and often little or no money. Action may call for an investment of time, but material costs are often low.
- With neighbourhood action, compared to activity on larger scales, results are more likely to be visible and quickly forthcoming. The streets are cleaner; the crosswalk is painted; the trees are planted; the festival draws a crowd.
- Visible and swift results are indicators of success; and since success is reinforcing, the probability of subsequent neighbourhood action is increased.
- Because neighbourhood action usually involves others, such actions create or strengthen connections and relationships with other neighbours, leading in turn to a variety of potentially positive effects, often hard to predict.
- Over and above these community advantages, neighbourhood activity may simply be enjoyable and fun for those taking part.
But in addition to these benefits, considerable research indicates that strong and cohesive neighbourhoods and communities are linked –quite possibly causally linked – to decreases in crime, better outcomes for children, and improved physical and mental health. The social support that a strong neighbourhood may provide can serve as a buffer against various forms of adversity.
With all this being said, why is it that we do so little consciously to make sure that we have some sort of basic structure in place to ensure that we have that social support component in place? With just a little effort, each of our Neighborhoods could be so much stronger, safer and more relationship focused. Are you interested in bettering the Neighborhood you live in?
relevant topics being covered? I live in an area with multiple bordering neighborhoods with the multiple schools, libraries, shopping centers, churches, sports fields, crime, local events etc. The point I’m trying to make here is that most suburban neighborhoods have alot of activity going on and its rarely reported on.
news reporter, neighborhood news, local news, local blogging,
