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Security versus Status?

A First Look at the Census’s Gated Community Data

Virginia Tech’s Alexandria Center and Metropolitan Institute

Robert E. Lang

Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech in Alexandria, Virginia, and Virginia Tech’s School of Planning and International Affairs

Dawn M. Dhavale

Virginia Tech in Alexandria and Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech

For most people, the term gated communities conjures up images of exclusive developments with fancy homes and equally fancy lifestyles. Much of the popular and academic literature on gated communities promotes this view. Yet the common perception of gated communities as privileged enclaves turns out to be only partly correct based on our analysis of the first ever census survey of these places. There are gated communities composed of mostly White homeowners with high incomes that have a secure main entry—the kind of classic gated community in the public mind. But there are also gated communities that are inhabited by minority renters with moderate incomes. We expected that this dichotomy reflects a divide between gated communities, one based on status versus one motivated by concern for security. Using the 2001 American Housing Survey (AHS), we attempted to explain the differences between gated homeowners, nongated homeowners, gated renters, and nongated renter households.

Key Words: gated communities • housing • American Housing Survey

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