RETHINKING NEIGHBORHOODS, NEIGHBORHOOD RESEARCH, AND NEIGHBORHOOD POLICY - LESSONS FROM UPTOWN

This case study of a northside Chicago neighborhood examines local dem ographic and housing patterns, evolving neighborhood issues, cultural conflicts, and organizational developments in the context of post-Worl d War II neighborhood research in the United States. The author conten ds that this body of literature reveals three characteristic approache s to neighborhood research and action: site, system, and stage. Using the third of these strategies to interpret the evolution of Uptown, th e author contends that the neighborhood stage offers the most satisfac tory means of understanding contemporary big city neighborhoods and de fining efficacious neighborhood directed public policy.