I have a new paper published with a few of my colleagues up in Buffalo, Dae-Young Kim and Scott Phillips. This work looks at the crime reduction effects of widespread demolitions in Buffalo, is titled The Effect of Housing Demolitions on Crime in Buffalo, New York, and was published at the Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency. In short, at the micro level there is very strong evidence that demolitions reduce crime — the neighborhood level the evidence is not as strong. This is likely partly due to the neighborhood level analysis being underpowered, as several of the estimates between the two are very similar overall.

If you cannot get access to that published article, you can always send me an email for a copy, or you can download a pre-print version from SSRN.

Below is one of the images from the paper, a set of small-multiple maps showing demographic characteristics of Buffalo census tracts:

 

Someone could surely replicate this micro level result in other cities that have experienced widespread demolitions (like Detroit). But for long term city planners I would consider more rigorous designs that incorporate not only selective demolition, but other neighborhood investment strategies to improve neighborhoods over long term. That is, this research is good evidence of the near-term crime reduction effects of demolitions, but for the long haul leaving empty lots is not going to greatly improve neighborhoods.