The social consequences of housing

The social capital literature documents a connection between social connect ion and economic outcomes of interest ranging from government quality to ec onomic growth. Popular authors suggest that housing and architecture are im portant determinants of social connection. This paper examines the connecti on between housing structure and social connection. We find that residents of large apartment buildings are more likely to be socially connected with their neighbors, perhaps because the distance between neighbors is lower in apartment buildings. Apartment residents are less involved in local politi cs, presumably because they are less connected with the public infrastructu re and space that surrounds them. Street crime (robbery, auto theft) is als o more common around big apartment buildings and we believe that this also occurs because there is less connection between people in apartments and th e streets that surround them. (C) 2000 Academic Press.