From our March 2015 issue: Distress in the Desert: Neighborhood Disorder, Resident Satisfaction, and Quality of Life During the Las Vegas Foreclosure Crisis

1. Christie D. Batson1
2. Shannon M. Monnat2

1. ¹University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA
2. ²The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

1. Christie D. Batson, Department of Sociology, University of Nevada, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Box 455033, Las Vegas, NV 89154-5033, USA. Email:Christie.batson@unlv.edu

Abstract

Using surveys collected from a sample of households nested within “naturally occurring” neighborhoods in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the 2007–2009 economic recession, this study examines the associations between real and perceived measures of neighborhood distress (foreclosure rate, physical decay, crime) and residents’ reports of neighborhood quality of life and neighborhood satisfaction. Consistent with social disorganization theory, both real and perceived measures of neighborhood disorder were negatively associated with quality of life and neighborhood satisfaction. Residents’ perceptions of neighborliness partially acted as a buffer against the effects of neighborhood distress, including housing foreclosures, on quality of life, and neighborhood satisfaction.

• neighborhoods
 
• foreclosures
 
• quality of life
 
• neighborhood satisfaction
• disorder
• • http://uar.sagepub.com/content/51/2/205.abstract