Is Community More Important Than Square Footage?

Before you start looking at luxury homes, condos, or golf course homes for sale in Charlotte, stop to think about what’s most important to you. Is it square footage, amenities, or the “feel” of a neighborhood?

For many people, it all boils down to the “feel” of a neighborhood. That includes much more than the style of the homes; it includes whether the neighborhood is actually a community where you fit in like a puzzle piece.

Who Wants to Live in a Community?

Younger buyers—particularly those in the under-50 crowd—seem to gravitate toward communities rather than subdivisions where they can simply hang their hats.

It makes sense from a psychological standpoint, too. It turns out that where we live matters for our health, according to a September 2008 study by the Commission to Build a Healthier America.

Here’s what the study found:

Health can also be shaped by the social environments of neighborhoods—that is, by characteristics of the social relationships among their residents, including the degree of mutual trust and feelings of connectedness among neighbors. Residents of “close-knit” neighborhoods may be more likely to work together to achieve common goals (e.g., cleaner and safer public spaces, healthy behaviors and good schools), to exchange information (e.g., regarding childcare, jobs and other resources that affect health), and to maintain informal social controls (e.g., discouraging crime or other undesirable behaviors such as smoking or alcohol use among youths, drunkenness, littering and graffiti), all of which can directly or indirectly influence health. Children in more closely-knit neighborhoods are more likely to receive guidance from multiple adults and less likely to engage in health damaging behaviors like smoking, drinking, drug use or gang involvement. Neighborhoods in which residents express mutual trust and share a willingness to intervene for the public good have been linked with lower homicide rates. Conversely, less closely-knit neighborhoods and greater degrees of social disorder have been related to anxiety and depression.

(You can read the whole study here.)

Are You Looking for a Home for Sale in Charlotte or the Surrounding Communities?

Whether you’re searching for a USDA home for sale in Charlotte or you’d like to find the perfect place to live in Weddington, we can help.

Call us at 704-608-2794 to talk to a knowledgeable Charlotte Realtor® who can help you find the perfect place to live today.

You can also explore:

• All Charlotte, NC real estate listings
• Luxury homes for sale in Charlotte
• New construction for sale in Charlotte

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