This article highlights some key ideas and findings presented in Managing to Make It, a study of how communities and neighborhoods affect the process of human development. Research using both exploratory fieldwork and quantitative surveys was conducted in inner-city Philadelphia over a decade. The study examined the residential contexts of children ages 11 to 15 and their resulting developmental outcomes. Residential choice, local institutions, and child-rearing decisions were all examined. Considerable variation in the functioning of families was found within neighborhoods, whereas the degree of variation across neighborhoods was less. There was little evidence that neighborhoods with greater social cohesion, better institutional resources, or even higher levels of problem behavior were significantly related to well-being outcomes for the family or individual. A strong association between family management and neighborhood properties was revealed. The future of neighborhoods lies in the ability of parents to mobilize their resources and skills to form new, and revitalize old, child-benefiting institutions.
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