Association Between Structural Housing Repairs for Low-Income Homeowners and Neighborhood Crime

Stoneleigh Fellow Vincent Reina and his colleagues have published a new research study investigating the connection between structural repairs to homes of low-income owners and crime in Black urban neighborhoods.

Key Points

Question  Are targeted investments in structural repairs to homes of low-income owners associated with reduced crime in Black urban neighborhoods?

Findings  In this cross-sectional study using difference-in-differences analysis of 13 632 houses on 6732 block faces in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the housing repair intervention analyzed was associated with a 21.9% reduction in total crime. Increasing the number of houses that received the intervention on a block was associated with a dose-dependent decrease in crime.

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