Centenial Celebration

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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue

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Results for residential areas and crime

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Author: Fabusuyi, Tayo

Title: East Liberty Crime Data Analysis

Summary: Within a span of five years, 2008 to 2012, overall crime in the residential area of East Liberty has decreased by 49%, and residential property prices have doubled. These developments occurred in an environment where the median income stagnated and actually declined in real terms and where there was minimal change in the racial composition of the neighborhood. This crime reduction is significantly greater than what occurred in the City of Pittsburgh during that period, and is also larger than that observed for comparable neighborhoods in close proximity to East Liberty. A series of questions prompted by these developments are what informed this study. Numeritics, a Pittsburgh-based consulting practice, was approached by the real estate arm of East Liberty Development Incorporated (ELDI), to examine the linkages between these developments and ELDI initiatives. Numeritics was tasked with providing plausible reasons that explain these developments; examining the degree to which ELDI was responsible for them and documenting the process by which these outcomes were achieved while providing some formalism on the process. ELDI staff who live in or around East Liberty came to the realization that crime is a real estate problem and therefore requires a real estate solution. In their experience, most of the criminal activity emanated from or around nuisance properties typically owned by slumlords, an observation buttressed by existing "hot spot" literature on crime that shows that 3% of addresses are responsible for 50% of all service calls to the police. This prompted the decision to embark on targeted acquisition of these properties at scale - a strategy reminiscent of the hot spot theory. Decisions on which properties to target came out of a combination of approaches. Using a "boots on the ground" approach, ELDI staffers became intimately involved in the neighborhood. They listened to complaints from neighbors, talked to the police and examined crime statistics. As a result of this process, East liberty "hot spots" were identified, most of which were either slumlord or abandoned properties. These properties were then targeted for acquisition by ELDI. In total, more than 200 units were purchased, representing 3% of the total rental housing units within the neighborhood. Post-acquisition, effective property managers were put in place to regulate the conduct of the properties and to function as place-owners. This strategy of property acquisition and management was strengthened by a number of complementary initiatives that helped to increase neighborhood cohesiveness. Beginning in 1997, ELDI has been highly conscious of involving neighborhood residents in the planning, decisionmaking and redevelopment process. These efforts allowed for the rebuilding of neighborhood cohesion and trust; what some call "collective efficacy"; the willingness of neighbors to intervene on behalf of the common good. This side effect in turn increases informal social controls; or neighbors looking out for each other, with the result being a positive effect on crime rates.

Details: Pittsburgh, PA: Numeritics, 2013. 23p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 8, 2018 at: http://helppgh.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Report_of_the_ELDI_Crime_Study.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: United States

URL: http://helppgh.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Report_of_the_ELDI_Crime_Study.pdf

Shelf Number: 149026

Keywords:
Collective Efficacy
Crime Analysis
Crime Hotspots
Hotspots
Housing and Crime
Neighborhoods and Crime
Residential Areas and Crime