Crime and vacant buildings
It seems that whenever I travel to conduct trainings, I find interesting items in the local press for this blog. My trip to Troy, Michigan last week for SEMBOIA was no exception. The Detroit Free Press had a very good article about using demolition wisely to target high crime areas. http://www.freep.com/article/20100421/NEWS05/4210312/Vacant-Detroit-homes-where-crime-thrives-the-first-to-go It seems the local agencies worked to determine which vacant buildings were located in areas with the highest concentration of homicides, assaults, rapes, robberies and arsons. Instead of tearing down vacant buildings here and there throughout the city, this approach recognizes that vacant buildings breed crime and that targeting specific areas is a better use of the funds available. At a time when funds for demolition quickly run out, it’s an approach that is very smart.
