Sunday Poll: Do Closed Streets Reduce Crime?
Yesterday the Post-Dispatch had an article about researchers examining closing streets and crime. From the abstract of the research paper:
Unlike most American cities, St. Louis, Missouri has a highly bisected street grid. Where intersections would typically be open to two-way traffic, in hundreds in cases in St. Louis they have been closed using concrete barriers or cul-de-sacs. These street closures are the outgrowth of a 1970s-era “defensible space” strategy to address rising crime rates. Oscar Newman, who is most closely associated with this paradigm, developed it while a faculty member in St. Louis. (Link)
Today’s poll seeks to get reader input on this topic.
This poll will close at 8pm tonight. Come back Wednesday for the non-scientific results and my thoughts.
– Steve Patterson