Crime
In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.
Density and Disorder: The Imaginary Link
A recent article tries to tie public transit and walkability to social disorder — but in fact, sprawling Sunbelt cities like Memphis are as likely to have high crime rates as transit-rich metropolises such as New York and San Francisco.
Did Brookings Get It Wrong?
A recent Brookings study on the 2020 homicide wave tells a simple story: unemployment plus closed schools plus guns equals crime. But is the story accurate?
The Link Between Urban Design and Crime
A meta-study shows that public realm interventions can help reduce crime rates.
Is Crime More Concentrated in Spread-out Cities?
Our nation's most transit-friendly cities have lower crime rates than many sprawling cities- yet some people seem to feel safer in sprawling cities because they believe that in sprawl, crime is concentrated in just a few neighborhoods. Is this correct?
But... Europe
European cities and nations tend to have less violent crime than the United States. Is government social welfare spending the magic bullet that explains this difference?
Denver Bans Downtown Food Trucks — Again
City officials say the controversial policy, first enacted in 2022, is an effort to reduce crime in the nightlife district.
Is Inequality Destroying American Cities?
A recent video claimed that high income inequality is the “Thing That Will Destroy Our Cities.” Is this true?
Recent Retail Closures in U.S. Cities Follow Trends Established Before the Pandemic
While some cling to debatable claims about higher crime rates as the cause for recent high-profile store closures in U.S. downtowns, the real reasons are more realistically extensions of the causes of the “retail apocalypse” from the before times.
Report: American Downtowns Safer Than You Think
A Brookings Institution study reveals that crime rates in major cities have risen, but downtown districts account for a negligible part of the growth.
The Deepening Transit Crisis: L.A. Times Reports Drug Use on Transit
An article by the L.A. Times earlier this week has raised the temperature of the debate about drug users and crime on rail transit. Concerns about public safety on transit are a common symptom of post-pandemic transit around the country.
Memphis: Crime-fighting Camera Sheds Light on Police Abuse
The irony is unmistakable. Public surveillance cameras, long controversial in the criminal justice community, provided pivotal video footage of the beating of motorist Tyre Nichols by five Memphis police officers at a traffic stop on January 7.
Chain Drugstores Are Closing, But Not Because of Shoplifting
Massive chain drug stores have become integral members of the urban fabric, for better or worse, but widespread store closures and security practices have come to symbolize urban decline. The dynamic must be monitored.
A Somber Earth Day Finding
Polling from CBS News/YouGuv shows an inverse relationship between the economy and the environment. A year ago, 56% of respondents rated climate change as an urgent issue. Today's Earth Day finding shows it at 49% as doubts grow about the economy.
Infrastructure Investment for Public Safety: Lessons from Medellín
A natural experiment in Medellín indicates that infrastructural investments can reduce crime and improve perceptions of public safety.
Big Cities Aren't as Bad as People Think
Paul Krugman argues that the pervasive myth of cities as crime-ridden cesspools harms democracy and creates a false contrast between urban and small-town America.
Another Fun Neighborhood Analysis Toy
A Trulia feature offers lots of interesting information about neighborhoods (or at least about how their residents perceive them).
Which Cities Are Becoming More Violent?
Some cities have become significantly more violent since the George Floyd protests began—but not all. Why have some cities been more successful than others?
Use of Private Surveillance Grows With the Help of Cheap AI Tech
As the technology gets cheaper, AI surveillance systems are gaining popularity in some parts of the country, like the neighborhood of Magnolia in Seattle.
LAPD is Looking for 5,000 Volunteers to Help Police Neighborhoods
The Los Angeles Police Department is looking to recruit 5,000 volunteers to run stake outs and "undercover surveillance," along with other police activities.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Moorpark
City of Tustin
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
