Moving Considerations of Middle-Class Residents in Dutch Disadvantaged Neighborhoods: Exploring the Relationship between Disorder and Attachment

A central assumption in the residential mobility literature is that residents in disadvantaged neighborhoods will leave as soon as they are financially able, as a result of ‘residential stress’ related to physical and social disorder in these neighborhoods. However, this assumption contradicts the continuing presence of a substantial share of middle-class residents in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods in the Netherlands. A qualitative study amongst middle-class residents in disadvantaged areas in Amsterdam and The Hague explored whether and how the residential context plays a role in their decision-making process about moving, focusing particularly on the way in which perceptions of neighborhood disorder on the one hand and processes of neighborhood attachment on the other shape moving decisions. In contrast to what was expected based on the research literature, perceptions of neighborhood disorder do not ‘push’ people out and positive ties to the neighborhood do not keep people there. Rather, a lack of attachment seems to ‘shield’ residents from neighborhood disorder and reduces their propensity to move out.