DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE
WHERE/WHEN APPLICABLE
TESTIMONIES

DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE:
The economic and social success of a commercial center is closely linked to public safety and the perception of public safety in that area. Businesses are less likely to move to high crime areas and residents are less likely to shop in high crime areas. Organizations such as the Boston office of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) recognize that the most significant challenge to economic development in the inner city is the perception of safety in business districts.

The Heart of the City has four major commercial centers, each of which the City of Boston has designated as an official "Main Street." All four commercial centers in the Heart of the City underwent a period of decline between the 1960s and 1980s when the crime rate was high, businesses closed, and metal grates over remaining businesses were the norm. Each commercial district has been the focus of public and private investment in recent years through the City’s Main Streets program and other initiatives, and each has grown safer for people and businesses over the course of the 1990s and early 2000s. The Main Streets of the Heart of the City are some of the areas greatest success stories of recent years.

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WHERE/ WHEN APPLICABLE:
The four commercial districts in the Heart of the City are Centre/ South Street, Grove Hall, Roslindale Village, and Egleston Square. The following are crime statistics for these areas from the research staff of the Boston Police Department (their relative rankings are in parentheses). The chart shows the average number of reported crimes per year - both violent crimes, property crimes, and total crimes - between 1999 and 2001.

Average Number of Total Reported Crimes per year between 1999 - 2001
Egleston Square -     521 (1)
Centre/ South St.-   257 (3)
Roslindale Village -  333 (2)

Average Number of Total Reported Violent Crimes per year between 1999 - 2001
Egleston Square -     59 (1)
Centre/ South St.-    16 (3)
Roslindale Village -   24 (2)

Average Number of Total Reported Crimes per year between 1999 - 2001
Egleston Square -     105 (2)
Centre/ South St. -    114 (1)
Roslindale Village -      91 (3)

Grove Hall:
Information about Grove Hall is available on a large scale, which includes 13 reporting areas rather than three or four as is the case with the other commercial districts. Between 1999 and 2001, the total number of reported crimes in the Grove Hall area increased by 9%. Vehicle theft increased significantly over the same period and the number of assaults in the area was high, with more than 550 reported incidents each year.

Centre/ South Street:
The total number of reported crimes committed on Centre/ South Street oscillated between 1999 and 2002, falling 22% between 2000 and 2001. Larceny/ attempted larceny has consistently been the most frequently reported crime on Centre/ South Street, followed by vandalism and vehicle theft/ attempted vehicle theft. Reported drug crimes, homicide, rape, prostitution, DWI, and disorderly conduct were very low to zero between 1999 and 2001.

Egleston Square:
The total number of reported crimes in Egleston Square increased by 8% between 1999 and 2001. During this period, crime related to aggravated assault, larceny/ attempted larceny, vandalism, and drugs have been high in Egleston Square relative to other Main Streets districts. Four homicides were committed in the area over the course of this time period and the numbers of rape/ attempted rape were higher in this area than in any other commercial center in the Heart of the City. According to Boston Police Department records, there were no instances of prostitution reported in Egleston Square between 1999 and 2001.

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TESTIMONIES:
"Probably the biggest challenge [to economic development in the inner-city] continues to be the perception of the inner city as unsafe and a place to be avoided...Slowly, this perception is eroding and, if anything, we are starting to have trouble finding places to put companies" (Alvaro Lima from Burglass, 2001).

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