Phoenix Area Social Survey (PASS) Project
This project is an on-going interdisciplinary research collaboration with faculty from Arizona State University that seeks to:
1. Examine how communities form and how they work in a rapidly growing, low density urban setting (Phoenix, Arizona) characterized by high rates of in and out migration and frequent residential mobility within the metropolis.
2. Study the interaction between rapidly-growing human communities and the natural environment.
This research focuses on eight Phoenix neighborhoods. Neighborhoods, characterized by sharp inequalities in social, economic and ecological circumstances, are the most salient environmental context that shape people’s values, attitudes, and behaviors in urban settings. Neighborhoods are also potentially significant actors in that setting because they can organize and focus residents’ energies on issues of local concern.
The following abstract highlights one of our findings from the PASS study: neighborhoods with higher levels of social capital are more likely to take action and address neighborhood problems.
Bonding and Bridging: Understanding the Relationship Between Social Capital and Civic Action