1) Where is the neighborhood located and does it have a formal name?
2) What are the political, environmental, and/or social boundaries of the neighborhood? How are these
boundaries identified/identifiable?
• Political boundaries: noticeably created by government (ie through streets, planning, and/or
policies)
• Environmental boundaries: demarcated by biophysical terrain (ie. ravines, valleys, parks,
waterfronts, rivers, etc.)
• Social boundaries: created by individual, community, and/or stigma – how a neighborhood's
identity and territory is socially imagined and constructed
3) What types of communities do you identify in the neighborhood? (ie. faith-based communities,
residential communities, business communities, community-based organizations, sports communities)
4) What types of community infrastructure do you observe in the neighborhood? (ie schools, libraries,
parks, community centers, community health centers, recreation centers, places of worship).
5) How (in what ways) does this community infrastructure help to inform your understanding about the
neighborhood? (i.e. if your neighborhood does not have any green park space, what can that tell you
about your neighborhood?). Be analytical!
6) In your opinion, what are the main problems/issues of concern in the neighborhood?
7) How do your opinions connect with existing literature about this neighborhood, if available (i.e.
demographic data, neighborhood profiles, and/or discussions in the media)?
8) What solutions would you, as a student in a City Studies course, propose to address these
problems/issues of concern? In what ways could the communities within the neighborhood address
these problems/issues?
9) How does your research connect with lecture material and readings in the course to date and how (in
what ways) does it inform your understanding of urban communities?
Sample Solution