The Decay of Adult Friendship in America.

Americans used to live within “place-based networks” of clubs, churches, schools, commerce, and recreation that overlapped, wrapping individuals in social support. Local networks protected individuals from isolation and loneliness.

Those networks have largely disappeared, replaced by networks based outside the local community. We shop and interact ... See more

While friends surely matter simply as friends, older friends are not a lot better at getting out to shop for you than you are yourself, so cannot be much help in physical terms. Proximity to friends also declined with age, as did the frequency of contact, neither of which is ideal: as you get older, you need your friends to be within shouting dista

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