Given the importance of resilience in promoting an effective recovery from severe natural disasters, the factors that contribute to such community resilience are of great interest to scholars and practitioners. The value of strong social networks in resilience is among the most oft-repeated lessons learned in recent scholarship. In this paper from the Atlanta Fed's Community and Economic Development Discussion Paper series, Ann Carpenter, a research analyst at the Atlanta Fed, examines the intersection of three connected threads in the literature to understand one particular aspect of resilience: how the built environment contributes to greater resilience by supporting and encouraging strong social networks. Carpenter also explores community resilience to disasters in a paper presented at the Federal Reserve System Community Development Research Conference held in April 2013, where she provides four case studies from post-Katrina Mississippi.