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Fewer Vacants, Fewer Crimes? Impacts of Neighborhood Revitalization Policies on Crime

Author

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  • Alvaro Cortes
  • Jenny Schuetz
  • Jonathan Spader
Abstract
The relationship between neighborhood physical environment and social disorder, particularly crime, is of critical interest to urban economists and sociologists, as well as local governments. Over the past 50 years, various policy interventions to improve physical conditions in distressed neighborhoods have also been heralded for their potential to reduce crime. Urban renewal programs in the mid-20th century and public housing redevelopment in the 1990s both subscribed to the idea that signs of physical disorder invite social disorder. More recently, the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) provided funding for local policymakers to rehabilitate or demolish foreclosed and vacant properties, in order to mitigate negative spillovers--including crime--on surrounding neighborhoods. In this paper, we investigate the impact of NSP investments on localized crime patterns in Cleveland, Chicago and Denver. Results suggest that demolition activity in Cleveland decreased burglary and theft, but do not find measurable impacts of property rehabilitation investments--although the precision of these estimates are limited by the number of rehabilitation activities.

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  • Alvaro Cortes & Jenny Schuetz & Jonathan Spader, 2015. "Fewer Vacants, Fewer Crimes? Impacts of Neighborhood Revitalization Policies on Crime," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2015-88, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2015-88
    DOI: 10.17016/FEDS.2015.088
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    Cited by:

    1. Colette Smirniotis & Michael Henderson & Barbara A. Bailey & Rose M. C. Kagawa, 2022. "Crime and Building Rehabilitation or Demolition: A Dose-Response Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-19, October.
    2. Larson, Matthew & Xu, Yanqing & Ouellet, Leah & Klahm, Charles F., 2019. "Exploring the impact of 9398 demolitions on neighborhood-level crime in Detroit, Michigan," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 57-63.
    3. Schuetz, Jenny & Spader, Jonathan & Cortes, Alvaro, 2016. "Have distressed neighborhoods recovered? Evidence from the neighborhood stabilization program," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 30-48.
    4. Kanayama, Yuki & Sadayuki, Taisuke, 2021. "What types of houses remain vacant? Evidence from a municipality in Tokyo, Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    5. Michelle Kondo & Michelle Degli Esposti & Jonathan Jay & Christopher N. Morrison & Bridget Freisthler & Claire Jones & Jingzhen Yang & Deena Chisolm & Charles Branas & Bernadette Hohl, 2022. "Changes in crime surrounding an urban home renovation and rebuild programme," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(5), pages 1011-1030, April.
    6. Takumi Ito & Tsuyoshi Setoguchi & Takashi Miyauchi & Akira Ishii & Norihiro Watanabe, 2019. "Sustainable Downtown Development for the Tsunami-Prepared Urban Revitalization of Regional Coastal Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-23, February.
    7. Suzuki, Masatomo & Hino, Kimihiro & Muto, Sachio, 2022. "Negative externalities of long-term vacant homes: Evidence from Japan," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    8. Bak, Xian F. & Hewings, Geoffrey J.D., 2017. "Measuring foreclosure impact mitigation: Evidence from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program in Chicago," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 38-56.
    9. Bunting, W.C., 2020. "Does increased access to home mortgage money reduce local crime rates? Evidence from San Diego County," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    10. Borges Ferreira Neto, Amir & Nowicki, Jennifer & Shakya, Shishir, 2021. "Do Public Libraries Help Mitigate Crime? Evidence from Kansas City, MO," MPRA Paper 111073, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Steinberg, Matthew P. & Ukert, Benjamin & MacDonald, John M., 2019. "Schools as places of crime? Evidence from closing chronically underperforming schools," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 125-140.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Crime; broken windows; foreclosures; neighborhood revitalization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General
    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General
    • R50 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - General

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