EXTERNAL EFFECTS OF MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES∗

Annals of the Association of American GeographersPublished 1 September 1980

Michael Dear, S. Martin Taylor, G. Brent Hall

DOI10.1111/j.1467-8306.1980.tb01318.x

Citations59

Abstract

ABSTRACT Analysis of a 1,090-household survey in metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, shows that community mental health facilities generate externality fields that include such effects as fears of the negative impact on property values, traffic volumes, and residential satisfaction. There are also strongly neutral respondents who do not anticipate any impact on their neighborhoods. The spatial extent of the externality effect of mental health facilities appears to be highly confined, perhaps to an area within six blocks of the facility. Behavioral adjustments by a population as a consequence of mental health facility location are small, although as proximity to facility increases, so does the propensity to participate in group-based opposition tactics. Although mental health facilities are regarded as noxious by proximate residents, they also appear to be endowed with some aura of social worth or merit. It may be that opposition to such facilities is limited to a vociferous minority whose views are not necessarily representative of the wider community.

Keywords

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