Title

Crime, Housing Tenure, and Economic Deprivation: Evidence from Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2017

Abstract

This study examines the determinants of 6 types of crime in Milwaukee, a Rust Belt city that has experienced significant deindustrialization in recent decades. Inner-city areas, as well as a unique low-density area on the city’s northwest side with many rental units, might lack the social control necessary to reduce crime. Creating an index of deprivation at the block group level for 2014, we find it to be high in the central city and on the northwest side and correlated with crime, income, and other socioeconomic variables. Crime hot spots, with a few notable exceptions, are located in 2 central-city areas that are poorer and less White than other block groups. A spatial lag regression model shows that deprivation primarily drives arson and assaults, and the share of renters is shown to increase thefts and robberies in low-income areas but not high-income areas.

Version

The version available here is an abstract. Please click the link on the right side of the page to access the full-text.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2017.1305815

Publication Title

Journal of Urban Affairs

Volume Number

39

Issue Number

8

First Page

1103

Last Page

1121

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS