Stop Segregating the Rich! Fighting Displacement Fights Crime

Miriam Axel-Lute, Shelterforce editor, comments on a recent blog post from John Roman of the Urban Institute's Metrotrends Blog on Rooflines. Roman says that if you consider crime and violence to be contagious issues, "having prosperous, and therefore presumably less susceptable [sic] to contagion, areas abutting poorer areas will slow the spread of crime, and therefore the total amount of it in a larger area."

While Axel-Lute agrees with the general idea, she adds that this thinking inevitably leads to larger discussions regarding displacement that must be addressed. She asks "what happens if you create a tipping point by various actions to reduce crime in the 'infected' area such that some people with means move in, but take measures to ensure those who are already there and want to stay are not displaced?"