Gated Communities: What Are the Drawbacks?

Millions of Americans live in gated communities – residential complexes or neighborhoods that are separated from surrounding areas by controlled access points. Most of these gated communities tout physical barriers, like walls, fences, and gates; some use security personnel to serve as access guards. When asked why they self-select into gated communities, people cite safety, noise reduction, aesthetics, prestige, and protection of property value as reasons, with safety typically the most common.

But are gated communities detrimental to society? It doesn’t take a doctorate in sociology to consider some of the drawbacks:
Drawbacks to Gated Communities: Excessive homogeneity
Gated communities create a more homogeneous population because people tend to cloister away with those of similar backgrounds. Many gated communities are groupings of single-family homes in suburban settings full of middle or upper-middle class white people, though some are higher-end apartment complexes renting to lower-middle class people who do not yet have the capability or desire to purchase a home. Either way, gated communities limit opportunities for cultural exchange in a neighborhood setting by sheltering both adults and children from organic interactions with others. They impose further social divisions based on (mostly) socioeconomic criteria. While there are benefits to celebrating commonalities, does it really require a wall for people with similar interests to come together? Don’t people already tend toward self-segregation without the aid of a physical barrier?

Drawbacks to Gated Communities: Exaggerated fear of the outside world
The psychological effects of living behind a wall or gate cannot be ignored. Every time people leave the community, they receive a subtle symbolic reminder that they’re exiting a place of ostensible safety and entering a place of supposed fear. While that’s natural anytime we leave “home,” gated communities magnify the effect to an unhealthy degree. Though residents may not detect it, gated communities are likely to increase the sense of paranoia about the world outside the gates.

Drawbacks to Gated Communities: Complacency within confines
Ironically, at the same time they may exaggerate the dangers outside the gates, gated communities can create a culture of complacency inside them. Residents may become so confident in their physical barriers and other security measures that they fail to take normal precautions or consider threats or problems from within. Assuming that your neighbors are good people just because they’re on the same side of the wall? Well, you know what happens when people assume.

Drawbacks to Gated Communities: “Re-zoning” of crime
While controlled access helps keep crime out of gated communities, it doesn’t address the issue of crime at its heart. Rather than working toward social betterment and raising employment rates and wages, for example, the developers of gated communities and the eventual property purchasers focus on ways to shield themselves from crime without looking the beast in the eyes. It’s true that the added security in gated communities may deter some criminals from their pursuits completely, but in most cases, the presence of a wall or guard merely shifts the locus of criminal activity to other areas. This sanctioned re-zoning of crime is the result of a myopic NIMBY philosophy.

Drawbacks to Gated Communities: Potential for sprawl
Many gated communities, particularly those in the suburbs, are entirely residential and not mixed-use, so pedestrian lifestyles may be inhibited. Suburban gated communities in particular ignore tend to public transportation and walkable commerce in favor of more pavement and more cars, contributing urban sprawl and resulting in more greenhouse gas emissions. Instead of revamping existing housing in urban areas, developers resort to building new houses from scratch.

Drawbacks to Gated Communities: Final thoughts
The issues above are just a few of the drawbacks to gated communities, and they’re all interrelated. While I certainly understand the impulse to promote safe, community-oriented living environments, I believe that building walls just isn’t the way. If you have thoughts on gated communities, please post a comment to this article.