Family Neighbors

It is argued that people's neighborhood social interaction is strongly affected by the presence of a parent or adult child in the neighborhood. Although only a minority of people have any "family neighbors," such people often have a central role in community social networks. Analysis of survey results from one metropolitan region demonstrates that much of the effect of many common predictors of neighboring (such as lenght of residence in the community, income, and urban/rural location) is indirect, through their effect on the number of family neighbors. Implications for the theoretical interpretation of these predictors are discussed.