Does a Crime a Day Keep Gentrification at Bay?

• In Event: New Directions in Research on the Relationship of Gentrification with Crime

Abstract

Cities across the United States continue to look to urban revitalization strategies such as gentrification to address the social ills of disadvantaged neighborhoods. These efforts were often grounded in research that found violent crime was more likely to decline in gentrifying neighborhoods. These studies often assumed that changes in violent crime followed neighborhood changes associated with gentrification, but reverse might also be true. The current study engages with this debate and builds upon previous research that examined the relationship of gentrification with violent crime overall and gang violence specifically by analyzing whether changes in total, gang and non-gang homicide preceded gentrification in the Hollenbeck area of Los Angeles. The goal of this study is to provide a more nuanced understanding on the relationship that exists between community residents, gang structures, and violence in rapidly changing neighborhoods. The study concludes by assessing the consequences of urban renewal policies that are fixated on neighborhoods with a intergenerational gang histories.

Authors

• Michael Scott Barton, University of Alabama

• Matthew Valasik, University of Alabama

• Jane Daquin, University of Alabama