https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128719875701
Crime & Delinquency
1–25
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/0011128719875701
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Original Research Articles
Noxious Housing:
The Influence of Single
Room Occupancy
(SRO) Facilities on
Neighborhood Crime
Julie M. Krupa
1
, Lyndsay N. Boggess
2
,
Alyssa W. Chamberlain
3
,
and Tony H. Grubesic
4
Abstract
Certain establishments (e.g., alcohol outlets or pawnshops) attract or generate
crime because they operate with little oversight and are often located in
poor or disordered neighborhoods. Single room occupancy (SRO) facilities
share some of these characteristics. SROs tend to be rundown motels or
apartment buildings that offer affordable housing for low-income clientele.
It is likely that SROs also generate and attract criminal activity that affects
the neighborhood. Using police incident report data for St. Petersburg, FL,
this study examines the impact of SROs on violent, property, and nuisance
crimes at the neighborhood level. Negative binomial regression models
suggest that the presence of an SRO in the focal or nearby neighborhood
increases local crime, with the impact varying by crime type.
Keywords
low-income housing, neighborhood crime, violence, nuisance crimes, single
room occupancy (SRO) facilities
1
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
2
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
3
Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA
4
The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
Corresponding Author:
Julie M. Krupa, School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, 655 Auditorium Rd.,
Room 428, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
Email: krupajul@msu.edu
875701CAD XX X 10.1177/0011128719875701Crime & DelinquencyKrupa et al.
research-article 2019