Home Impact

When Drew Brees hit free agency after his shoulder injury, he and his wife Brittany chose New Orleans less than a year after Hurricane Katrina, when a lot of people were still leaving the city. He’s said he believed he came to New Orleans “for a reason,” and that he needed the city as much as the city needed him. They bought and renovated a home in Uptown, put their roots down, and poured time and money into schools, neighborhoods, and rebuilding efforts—not just as a PR move, but as a way of saying this is home now.

His story is a reminder that where we live isn’t just a backdrop. The city, town, or neighborhood we choose (or inherit) can shape our identity, our family, our health, and even our sense of purpose just as much as we shape it.

On the research side, there’s a growing pile of evidence that neighborhoods really matter for health. Studies of “neighborhood social cohesion” – things like trusting your neighbors, feeling like you belong, and having people around who would check on you – find that higher cohesion is linked to better mental health, healthier behaviors, and lower risk of some chronic diseases over time.

Other work shows that people who live in more walkable neighborhoods tend to be more physically active, feel a stronger sense of community, and in some studies report higher happiness and life satisfaction, especially in midlife.

In plain language: how your neighborhood is built, and how connected you feel to the people around you, quietly shapes both your body and your mood over time.