The Influence of Street Network Features on Robberies Around Public Housing Communities

Abstract

Previous research has consistently identified a crime spillover effect from public housing communities. However, variation in spillover between communities has also been observed. Drawing upon environmental criminology and recent advancements in crime and place research, we examine whether street block betweenness conditions the relationship between street block distance to public housing communities and robbery levels. Negative binomial regression results indicate that street block distance is inversely related to robberies and betweenness is positively associated with robbery levels. The interaction between distance to the nearest public housing community and betweenness suggests robberies decrease more slowly farther from public housing communities on street blocks with higher betweenness. Findings demonstrate the importance of considering the context in which potentially criminogenic facilities are situated.