Testing the Decline-of-Community Thesis: Neighborhood Organizations in Seattle, 1929 and 1979

Although the decline-of-community thesis has received considerable attention from urban sociologists, most of the empirical evidence brought to bear on the thesis has been cross-sectional rather than longitudinal. In the present study this deficiency is overcome. The characteristics of neighborhood organizations in Seattle, Washington, in 1929 and in 1979 are compared, focusing on the neighborhood level and taking an institutional approach. Two sets of hypotheses about the organizations-the first dealing with changes in resident participation and the second with changes in functional orientation-are derived from the natural-and limited-community models. In general, the analysis provides mixed support for the hypotheses. The data indicate a clear trend toward a more exclusively political emphasis among Seattle neighborhoods but cast doubt on the simple "gemeinschaft" characterization of these areas at an earlier point in time. A major conclusion of the study is that, if the decline-of-community thesis is to give an accurate description of the transformation in urban neighborhood life during the past half-century, the natural-community model should be revised.