Environmental Design and Neighborhood Context: A Multi-level Analysis of Crime at Apartments in Cincinnati Neighborhoods

Abstract

The present study examines the role of opportunity on crime counts within the multicontextual opportunity theoretical framework. We used weighted multilevel regression modeling of site observation data from a Cincinnati-based sample of 1003 apartments nested within 228 census block groups. Results indicate that only a couple of environmental design features are associated with crime in the expected direction, and some of these associations are neighborhood-context-dependent. We conclude that the results support the propositions of multicontextual opportunity theory suggesting that neighborhood level factors condition the relationship between micro level opportunity factors and crime. Since there is a scant literature on this topic, more research is needed to see if the findings hold true in other places.

Keywords

environmental design multilevel opportunity apartment complexes

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