"The rehabilitation of abandoned buildings
may be associated with reductions in certain crime categories,
according to a University of Pennsylvania study in the journal PLOS ONE.
The study focuses on a Philadelphia city ordinance passed
in 2011 that called for building owners to fix the broken doors and
windows of vacant buildings. Of the 2,356 buildings cited by city
officials as in need of remediation, 29 percent were fixed up between
January 2011 and April 2013, according to the study.
Researchers compared crime rates near remediated buildings
to unmediated ones within half a mile. They found a significant
decrease in both serious and nuisance crimes in areas near remediated
buildings. In particular, gun assaults decreased by 39 percent near
remediated buildings.
Assaults overall were reduced by 19 percent. So-called
nuisance crimes, such as vandalism, public drunkenness and illegal
dumping, dropped by 16 percent, according to the study.
Researchers noted that the ordinance impact varied from neighborhood to neighborhood."
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