Neighborhood Effects on Crime and Youth Violence: The Role of Business Improvement Districts in Los Angeles

• NCJ Number: 234153
• Author(s): John MacDonald; Ricky N. Bluthenthal; Daniela Golinelli; Aaron Kofner; Robert J. Stokes; Amber Sehgal; Terry Fain; Leo Beletsky
• Date Published: 2009
• Length: 139 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Ctr's for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Corporate Author: Rand Corporation
• Sale Source: Rand Corporation
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined whether residing in neighborhoods exposed to business improvement districts (BIDs) in Los Angeles reduced a youth's risk of being exposed to neighborhood violence and improved the overall social environment of a BID neighborhood compared to living in similarly situated neighborhoods not exposed to BIDs.

Abstract

BIDs are self-organizing, local public-private organizations that collect assessments and invest in local-area service provisions and activities, such as place promotion, street cleaning, and public safety. Such activities can contribute to community-level attributes that might reduce crime and youth violence by increasing informal social control, reducing visible signs of disorder and blight, improving order maintenance, and providing enriched employment opportunities by facilitating overall improvements in the local economy. The study found that the adoption of a BID does not in itself produce systemic change in community conditions and foster reductions in youth violence; however, BIDs that attempt to improve public safety and quality of life by hiring private security, cleaning streets of trash and debris, and cooperating with city service agencies to address merchant or property-owner concerns about community needs are more effective agents of community positive change. Whether such activities translate into lasting community-level effects and reductions in youth violence will be part of an ongoing research effort as this study continues its examination of the link between BID activities and neighborhood-level changes related to economic opportunities, disorder and blight, collective efficacy, and youth violence rates in subsequent years. This report reviews the literature on community characteristics associated with elevated rates of youth violence, presents a descriptive analysis of the budget data and results from in-depth interviews with BID officials to determine the differences in the priorities and functions of BIDs. Interviews were also conducted with youth and caregivers in selected households in BID and comparison-group neighborhoods. 48 tables, 115 references, and appended supplementary data