Community social organization and the integration of affordable housing residents in a suburban New Jersey community

Differences in class and race have been shown to have a complex yet substantial effect on the integration of low-income minorities who move into majority white middle-class communities through affordable housing programs. Previous research has identified and outlined key variables and outcomes in the integration process, focusing on the nature and quality of network ties and performance indicators such as educational and occupational outcomes. However, the sociological literature fails to provide an understanding of the mechanisms by which the context of the social structure of suburban communities can affect the measured outcomes. The impressions, traits, and influence of social actors are conceptualized too statically. This study moves beyond a survey-based snapshot to generate a qualitative description of life in a suburban affordable housing complex. I argue that attributes particular to the suburban context including racial and class homogeneity, discrimination, automobile based spatial organization and aesthetics, and the suburban institutional and organizational context, must be accounted for in conceptualizing the social integration process. I demonstrate how these factors influence the following aspects of the experience of living in suburban affordable housing: motivation to participate, social control and safety, participation in local organizations and institutions, institutional responses to the new residents, and participant understanding of mobility. I argue that these linkages are crucial in understanding the economic, social, and biological effects associated with moving from the city to the suburbs.