I believe it's also worthy to note that this study was done on gardens in Houston; not exactly a walkable, urban environment. This is important considering the idea that more activated people in a community create "eyes" that make it harder for crime to exist. An idea that has been considered true regarding the crime-lessing power of urban garden spaces.
On 9/8/09, Diana Liu <[email protected]> wrote: > Eleven gardens in one city is not necessarily a weak study. It depends on > how big the city is and how many residents live in the city. > > I am just curious to the statement: "Residents linked the presence of the > gardens to neighborhood revitalization and perceived immunity from crime, > noting changes such as the cessation of illegal activity, including dumping > and/or drug activity, increased property values, and increased neighborhood > redevelopment." - What percentages of residents made these links? Are > residents who also garden in the community garden more likely to make these > links? > > > --- On Tue, 9/8/09, Don Rake <[email protected]> wrote: > > > From: Don Rake <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Community_garden] Crime Rate Not Impacted By Community Gardens > To: "Don Boekelheide" <[email protected]>, > [email protected] > Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2009, 1:54 PM > > > The study is based on 11 gardens in one city. It sounds like a very weak > study. > > --- On Tue, 9/8/09, Don Boekelheide <[email protected]> wrote: > > From: Don Boekelheide <[email protected]> > Subject: [Community_garden] Crime Rate Not Impacted By Community Gardens > To: [email protected] > Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2009, 1:26 PM > > FYI, we're sure to all hear about this study: > > http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1749097/crime_rate_not_impacted_by_community_gardens/index.html?source=r_science > > I wonder how these findings compare to what the Witmeyer study has uncovered > in Saint Louis. > > Don > Charlotte, NC > www.urbanministrycenter.org > >>>>text>>> > > Crime Rate Not Impacted By Community Gardens > > Posted on: Tuesday, 8 September 2009, 08:51 CDT > > Data shows no reduction in crime; residents still perceive neighborhoods as > safer where gardens grow > > Urban residents across the United States have dug in to create green spaces > in their neighborhoods, transforming vacant lots into colorful and > crowd-pleasing community gardens. According to the American Community > Gardening Association, there were an estimated 150,000 community gardens in > the U.S. in 2004. > > Researchers interested in how community gardens affect urban dwellers' > quality of life have studied and measured signs of neighborhood > stabilization in garden communities. The good news: studies have revealed an > increase in the number of owner-occupied dwellings, more personal income (as > a result of attracting people with higher incomes to the community), and > rent increases in areas surrounding community gardens. > > But could the presence of green space contribute to lower crime levels in > neighborhoods? The research team of M.R. Gorham, T.M. Waliczek, A. > Snelgrove, and J.M. Zajicek from Texas State and Texas A&M Universities > published a study in HortTechnology that helps answer this question. The > purpose of the study was to determine if community gardens had an impact on > reported property crimes in neighborhoods surrounding urban community > gardens in Houston. > > Eleven community gardens in Houston were chosen for the research. The > researchers interviewed citizens and collected and mapped crime data around > the 11 gardens. The numbers of property crimes (using 2005 crime data from > the Houston Police Department) surrounding the community garden areas were > then tallied and mapped for each area. Next, the numbers of crimes were > evaluated along with demographic data from the 2000 U.S. Census. Statistical > comparisons were made between community garden areas and randomly selected > city areas that were within a 1-mile area surrounding each garden. > > Waliczek explained that "initial results indicated no statistically > significant differences between the mean number of crimes in community > garden areas and the mean number of crimes in randomly selected areas. The > results from further analysis indicated that there were no crime number > differences between the community garden areas and the randomly selected > areas." > > According to the study, while anecdotal evidence has pointed to a reduction > in crime surrounding community gardens, this research did not support that > premise or show that the presence of a community garden can be used as a > predictor for the number of property crimes. > > But crime data accounted for only one element of the study; input from > residents showed another, more hopeful outcome. The scientists found that > people living in community garden areas reported the gardens to be a > positive influence on their neighborhoods. Residents linked the presence of > the gardens to neighborhood revitalization and perceived immunity from > crime, noting changes such as the cessation of illegal activity, including > dumping and/or drug activity, increased property values, and increased > neighborhood redevelopment. > > Therefore, noted the researchers, though the actual numbers of property > crimes did not indicate a difference, residents of the community garden > areas perceived their neighborhoods to be safer because of the gardens. > > --- > > Image Caption: The garden at San Antonio's Denver Heights Community Center > was one of the gardens included in the study of crime rates and community > perceptions. Credit: Photo by Michelle Gorham > >>>>###<<< > > > > > _______________________________________________ > The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's > services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find > out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org > > To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: > http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20090908/1fde57ce/attachment.html> > _______________________________________________ > The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's > services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find > out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org > > To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: > http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20090908/4561c146/attachment.html> > _______________________________________________ > The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's > services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find > out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org > > To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: > http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org > _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
