Background. Research on neighborhood effects increasingly includes the influences of

the built environment on health and social well-being.

Objectives. A population-based study in a low-socioeconomic status, Hispanic

neighborhood examined whether architectural features of the built environment theorized to

promote direct observations and interactions (e.g., porches; stoops) predicted Hispanic elders’

social support and psychological and physical functioning.

Methods. Built environment features were coded for all 3857 lots in the 403-block area

of an urban Miami (FL) community. Coding of the built environment was followed by three

annual assessments of social support, psychological distress, and physical functioning in a

population-based sample of 273 low socio-economic status Hispanic elders (ages 70-100).

Structural equation modeling analytic techniques were used to examine hypothesized

relationships of the built environment to elders’ social support, psychological distress, and

physical functioning over a three-year period.

Results. After controlling for age, gender, and income, architectural features of the

built environment theorized to facilitate visual and social contact had a significant direct

relationship to elders’ physical functioning as measured three years later, and an indirect

relationship through social support and psychological distress. Further binomial regression

analyses suggested that elders living on blocks marked by low levels of positive front entrance

features were at 2.7 times the risk of subsequent poor levels of physical functioning, compared to

elders living on blocks with a greater number of positive front entrance features (b=0.99, χ2

(1)=3.71, p=.05; 95% CI=1.0-7.3).