Abstract

ABSTRACT: This study uses data from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality to examine variation in tenant association participation among public housing tenants in Boston and Los Angeles. Using logistic regression models we estimate the net effects of four sets of factors on the likelihood that a tenant has attended tenant association meetings: neighborhood attachments, grievances, resources and constraints, and feelings of efficacy. Results show that net of other factors, participation is greater among attached tenants who have resided in public housing longer and who have social ties to other people. Grievances also increase participation, but they do so indirectly by increasing people’s tendency to be more involved in their communities. With the exception of education’s positive effect, resources and constraints are not important determinants of participation. Education and efficacy act like enablers increasing people’s ability to be involved in their communities. The implications of the findings for research and community organizing are explored by examining how three mechanisms account for the findings.