How Homeownership Results in Greater Local Participation and Improved Urban Neighborhoods

Does homeownership result in a greater local political participation in urban neighborhoods? Contemporary urban theorists argue that homeownership reinforces social and political bonds. Much of this discussion is rooted in the works of Marx and Engels, suggesting that homeownership leads to conservative political behavior. Work by Gilderbloom and Markham (1995) using the General Social Survey (GSS) from the University of Chicago National Opinion Research Center (NORC) suggested voting behavior might be higher among homeowners. We use the same data set and modeling techniques to explore this issue further—looking at aspects Gilderbloom and Markham did not explore such as participation in neighborhood life using two factor scores: organizational involvement and local supporting volunteerism and involvement in local political activity. In this research we assess empirically, the social and political effects of homeownership and their participation in local political activities and in joining volunteer organizations. We use logistic regression to study homeownership and local political activity in relation to neighborhood involvement organizations; we find that homeowners are more engaged in neighborhood involvement, resulting in improved community satisfaction and development. Homeownership might also have a positive impact on neighborhood life allowing greater citizen involvement in addressing neighborhood challenges, some of which often translate into local issues that homeowners appear to take the lead on from graffiti to schools, speedy traffic, and drugs. Greater amount of homeownership results in a better neighborhood in terms of quality of life and sustainability. The motivation for this involvement in “neighborhood improvement” stems from the profitability of homeownership in the US which provides four kinds of return on investment: federal tax shelters, (and sometimes local and state tax credits), appreciation of property which on average can double every ten years, substantial equity build up, and stabilization of housing costs which is much greater than renting