hello Belle and all, happy new year....
We have worked on neighborhood mapping at University at Buffalo and from experience, can say that it varies.
Buffalo neighborhoods, for example, are loosely defined by residents and not all agree. our online map of the city would receive calls asking us to redraw boundaries for a variety of reasons. Some wanted to keep property values
high by cutting lower income sections out of their neighborhood. Others felt there was something that did not match local perceptions.
We found the neighborhood boundaries to sometimes be quite controversial.
My predecessor created the original boundaries by walking each neighborhood and talking with people. it was a long process but he was determined to do an accurate job. he also used books on the neighborhoods to compile his research.
contrast this with NYC. My colleague prepared a Manhattan neighborhoods map and he began with a book that provided specific boundaries that were established. these had fixed borders.
some other cities we found had fixed, or accepted boundaries. others had general regions that were not so concrete or distinct.
your teacher may want to examine some sources for various cities to see how they are identified. places like Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco, have good research. Less populated towns may not get the same treatment.
Belle, if you would like additional information on this topic,please contact me.
As an aside, there are journal articles that discuss how Google maps are changing neighborhood names. their system creates new names to assist route identification. locals note that the names do not correspond with local history. it is inadvertent revision
of history.
David J Bertuca, Map Librarian, Emeritus
University at Buffalo
-------- Original message --------
Date: 1/29/21 8:55 AM (GMT-05:00)
Subject: Neighborhood Boundaries Research / Social Theory
One of our teachers is designing a lesson for next week, looking at neighborhoods and wondering if anyone knew of books or articles that address these questions:
Who decides the boundaries between our neighborhoods? How does this impact how we think about where we live? Who benefits from certain ways of dividing and who doesn’t?
Belle Lipton
GIS Map Librarian - Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library