Several studies have established an association between neighborhoodcharacteristics and health, especially on cardiovasculardisease.Those living in disadvantaged neighborhoods have ahigher incidence of cardiovascular events, even after controlling forindividual-level factors.Neighborhood characteristics often studiedinclude walkability, and access to healthy food, as well as socialand physical environmental factors such as crime, social cohesion,noise, and aesthetic quality.In terms of the latter, some authorsargue that fear of crime as well as crime itself may be mediators ofthe effect of the physical environment (eg, litter, contamination,abandoned buildings, etc) on public health.