ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the reasons people live in different kinds of places and the lifestyles associated with different locations. It considers what satisfies people about each kind of location. The first sociologist to become interested in lifestyle and its social meaning was Max Weber. Sociologists who study lifestyle focus on how people spend their time and their money. Americans typically spend time socializing with family and friends. Residential segregation has an enormous impact on people's social relations and their social identities. Neighborhood or community satisfaction is the result of a mix of elements: the objective characteristics of a neighborhood; the social and demographic characteristics of the residents; and residents' social ties and subjective definitions of the neighborhood—how residents see it and feel about it. Community satisfaction probably helps us explain the choices that people make about finding another dwelling.