NCJ Number
109203
Date Published
1987
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This final research report explores in detail the problems of crime and the fear of crime and how they can be a major impediment to the revitalization of downtown areas.
Abstract
Fear of crime has lead businesses and corporations to decide that many urban downtown areas are undesirable places to locate their new office or retail facilities. In 1984, the Regional Plan Association initiated the Downtown Safety Security and Economic Development Program to combat this problem. The Regional Plan studied three areas in the outer boroughs of New York City to learn how crime impedes growth in downtown areas. The study employed interviews with corporate executives and security directors, surveys of merchants and residents, reviews of police records, sessions with office workers, and field observations. Downtowns across the United States were surveyed for workable programs that could offset the negative effects of crime on downtown development. The results of this research were used to assist groups in Jamaica Center and Downtown Brooklyn to formulate and create strategies for enhancing the images of their downtown areas. The research indicates that people fear downtown crime and thus hesitate to walk on downtown streets. Thus, the development of a downtown area is reduced. The research also indicates that fear of crime can be reduced by dense and compact multiuse development and police patrol activities that provide considerable citizen contact and control of crime. By using strategies that build on these findings, the report shows how revitalization of a downtown area can occur.