Earlier this month, Changing Gears’ Kate Davidson told us about blotting – a practice in Detroit and elsewhere in which home owners are taking over vacant lots and improving their blocks.
Now there’s evidence that sprucing up vacant lots can have a measurable effect on reducing crime. 
According to The Atlantic Cities, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania studied a 10-year project in Philadelphia to convert vacant lots into park space. They found that gun-related assaults significantly declined in areas around the lots that had been greened. Vandalism and criminal mischief also significantly fell off. Continue reading