In the last decades, increasing attention has been paid to the effects of growing up in a disadvantaged neighborhood on the social outcomes of youth. In most of these studies, however, the focus is on statistical relations between neighborhood characteristics and social outcomes. Little attention is paid to processes such as the interplay between neighborhood settings, parenting styles and strategies, and personal agency of youth. In this paper, I will argue that neighborhood effect research on youth can be enriched in three ways. First, relating to the ideas of ‘children’s geographies’, an argument is made for looking at the use and interpretation of neighborhood settings by youth themselves. Second, parental styles and strategies as both mediating and moderating factors between neighborhood characteristics and social outcomes should be included. And finally, youth should be seen as active agents in shaping their encounters with different neighbourhood settings and in forming social networks.