A sense of place is achieved by becoming familiar with the place in which one lives, from the local ecology to the people who create the framework of the community.  As Alan Thein Durning points out, development of a sense of place is of great importance to involvement and rootedness in one’s home place.  This connection to place is necessary in order for one to not only appreciate where they are, but to also achieve a level of living that is responsible to that specific region and those who live there.  Wendell Berry makes the observation that in modern society our sense of community is skewed as people are drawn further into the privacy of their homes by technological distractions and avoid the social interactions that make neighborhoods the basic component of community (Berry 159).  I suggest that the architecture of homes and the way in which neighborhoods are planned can both increase neighborhood interaction and perpetuate the escape from community life.  This project is an exploration of different neighborhoods within Northfield that have been established at different time periods, are products of diverse types planning, and feature a variation of architectural elements.  Through a review of literature on architectural change and the sociological effects of architecture, a general understanding of neighborhood planning and architectural elements is reached.  Conversations with residents of the different neighborhoods explored provide anecdotal information on how some citizens view the effects of architecture and planning on their sense of community.