WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A new Gallup study of 26 American cities, conducted in conjunction with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, finds that residents of smaller cities such as Boulder, Colorado, and Charlotte, North Carolina, are more likely to recommend their city as a place to live than residents of larger cities such as Philadelphia and Detroit. Overall, residents in Bradenton, Florida, were the most likely to recommend their city, while residents in Detroit and Gary, Indiana, were the least likely.
If you're like me, the phrase "bowling alone" conjures up vivid memories of undergrad sociology lectures about 
When we embarked on the second year of the Soul of the Community study, the American economy was entering a significant downturn, as you know. So one of the questions on the minds of our researchers was whether the economic decline would factor into attachment. Many of us assumed that it would play a part, and that the hardest-hit cities would see a corollary decrease in attachment.
