NCJ Number
103320
Date Published
1986
Length
39 pages
Annotation
This study analyzed time-series data from 14 gentrified neighborhoods in Boston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., to determine if gentrification had an effect on crime rates in central city neighborhoods.
Abstract
The neighborhoods studied resembled one another in architectural or locational amenities, attracted young middle-class professionals who often lived in nonfamily living arrangements, and had experienced a rapid appreciation of property values. Individual factors, however, gave a distinct character to each neighborhood. All these gentrified neighborhoods had total Index crime rates above the average for their respective cities. Analysis of crime rates between 1970 and 1984 in the 14 neighborhoods indicated that gentrification leads to some reduction in pesonal crime rates, but has no significant effect on rates of property crime. Relief from long-term trends of urban decline may be only temporary in gentrified neighborhoods. Crime itself may act as a feedback mechanism to deter neighborhood stability resulting from gentrification. Tables and approximately 40 references. (Author abstract modified)