WAS THERE A SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION OF URBAN NEIGHBORHOODS IN THE 1980S- A DECADE OF WORSENING SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN CLEVELAND, OHIO, USA

One central thesis in recent urban poverty research, that social conte xt has further disadvantaged poor residents of central-city neighbourh oods, has not been tested empirically, This analysis examines the stre ngth of relationships among adverse social conditions in neighbourhood s in one North American industrial city. Using exploratory and confirm atory factor analyses, the hypothesis that negative social conditions have become increasingly intertwined in the 1980s was supported. Neigh bourhoods could be distinguished along several important dimensions in the early 1980s, At the end of the decade, a single dimension of inte rconnected adverse conditions predominates. While the explanation for these trends is structural, the conditions themselves must be addresse d if efforts to revitalise neighbourhoods and prevent the spread of po verty are to succeed.