Urban design is frequently identified as a tool to reduce crime and improve traffic safety in urban neighborhoods. In this “before” and “after” evaluation, we assess a major urban revitalization in the Minnie Street neighborhood in Santa Ana, California, in terms of its impacts on crime and pedestrian safety. Conclusions suggest that urban design can help to improve crime and traffic safety in poor urban neighborhoods but that other factors must also be considered.
Active Living by Design.2004. About active living by design. http://www.activelivingbydesign.org/index.php?id=219 (accessed on February 19, 2004).
2.
Active Living Research.2004. What is active living? http://www.activelivingresearch.org/index.php/What_is_Active_Living/103 (accessed on February 19, 2004).
3.
Anderson, R.W.G., A. J. McLean, M.J.B.Farmer, B.H. Lee, and G.B. Brooks.1997. Vehicle travel speeds and the incidence of fatal pedestrian crashes. Accident Analysis and Prevention29: 667-74.
4.
Appleyard, D.1980. Livable streets, protected neighborhoods. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Brantingham P.L., and P.J. Brantingham .1993. Nodes, paths, and edges: Considerations on the complexity of crime and physical environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology13: 3-28.
7.
Bureau of Justice Statistics.2002. Sourcebook of criminal justice statistics online. 30th ed. Section 2: Public attitudes toward crime and criminal justice-related topics. http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/pdf/section2.pdf (accessed on June 1, 2005).
8.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.1999. Neighborhood safety and prevalence of physical inactivity in selected states, 1996. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (48) 143-6.
9.
City of Santa Ana.2002. Cornerstone summaries and updates, Wakeham Grant apartments. Unpublished memo. City of Santa Ana, California.
10.
———. 2003. Cornerstone Village improvement plan update for the mayor . Unpublished memo. City of Santa Ana, California.
11.
———. 2004a. Cornerstone Village. A partnership between the City of Santa Ana, residents and the property owners of Minnie Street. Flyer, available from Community Development Agency, City of Santa Ana, California.
12.
———. 2004b. Cornerstone Village: A new beginning. Video, available from Community Development Agency, City of Santa Ana, California.
13.
City of Santa Ana Police Department.2005. Minnie/Standard Street detail. http://www.ci.santa-ana.ca.us/pd/minniestreet.htm (accessed on October 3, 2005).
14.
Day, K.1999. Embassies and sanctuaries: Race and women's fear and welcome in privatized public space. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space: 17 (3), 307-28.
15.
———. 2000. Strangers in the night? Women's fear of sexual assault on urban college campuses. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 16 (4): 289-312.
16.
———. 2003. New Urbanism and the challenges of designing for diversity . Journal of Planning Education and Research23 (1): 83-95.
17.
———. 2006. Active living and social justice: Planning for physical activity in low-income black and Latino communities. Journal of the American Planning Association72 (1): 88-99.
18.
Demographics Now.2006. Data on block groups 060590745012, 060590745013 (Minnie Street north of McFadden Avenue). www.demographicsnow.com (accessed on May 6, 2006).
19.
Eck, J., and D. Weisburd , eds. 1995. Crime and place. Monsey, NY: Willow Tree Press.
20.
Evenson, K.R., O.L. Sarmniento, M.L. Macon, K.W. Tawney, and A.S. Ammerman.2002. Environmental, policy, and cultural factors related to physical activity among Latina immigrants. Women and Health36 (2): 43-57.
21.
Golub, T.F., R. Kitamura, and L. Long.1997. Panels for transportation planning: Methods and applications. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
22.
Gordon, M.T., and S. Riger.1989. The female fear. New York: Free Press.
23.
Gorton, R., J. Lavinsky, L. Long, A. Malisos, A. Nelson, M. Powe, N. Sarkar, E. Smith, and D. Wood.2005. Evaluation of the Cornerstone Village Improvement Project. Unpublished report, Department of Planning, Policy, and Design, Univ. of California, Irvine .
24.
Hicks, J.2001. Minnie Street headed in new direction. Los Angeles Times, January 11. http://www.latimes.com/cgi-bin/print.cgi (accessed on January 11, 2001).
25.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.2005 . Fatality facts 2003: Pedestrians. http://www.highwaysafety.org/safety_facts/fatality_facts/pdfs/pedestrians.pdf (accessed on March 10, 2005).
26.
Jacobs, J.1961. The death and life of great American cities. New York: Vintage.
27.
Jacobsen, P., C.L. Anderson, D.G. Winn, J. Moffat, P.F. Agran, and S. Sarkar.2000. Child pedestrian injuries on residential streets: Implications for traffic engineering. ITE Journal on the Web (February): 71-74. http://www.issinet.com/bin/webdbc.dll/traffic/users/htx/&/ite/journal/results.htx (accessed on January 30, 2007).
28.
Jeffrey, C.R.1971. Crime prevention through environmental design. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
29.
Jensen, S.U.1998. DUMAS: Safety of pedestrians and two-wheelers. Note no. 51. Road Directorate, Division of Road Safety and Environment , Copenhagen, Denmark.
30.
Jones, S.J., R.A. Lyons, A. John, and S.R. Palmer.2005. Traffic calming policy can reduce inequalities in child pedestrian injuries: Database study. Injury Prevention11:152-6.
31.
King, W.D., and P.S. Palmisano.1992. Racial differences in childhood hospitalized pedestrian injuries. Pediatric Emergency Care8 (4): 221-4.
32.
Loukaitou-Sideris, A.2005. Is it safe to walk here? Design and policy responses to women's fear of victimization in public places. Conference proceedings. Research on Women's issues in transportation, 2 (pp.102-12). Washington, DC: Transportation Research Board.
33.
Loukaitou-Sideris, A., R. Liggett, H. and Iseki. 2001. Measuring the effects of built environments on bus stop crime. Environment and Planning B. Planning and Design28:255-80.
34.
McMillan, T.E. Forthcoming.The relative influence of urban form on a child's travel mode to school. Transportation Research, Part A.
35.
Mena, J.2002. Mean street resurrected into safe haven. One of the toughest neighborhoods in Santa Ana celebrates its renewal. Los Angeles Times, October 28, B1.
36.
Nasar, J.L., and B. Fisher.1993. Hot spots of fear and crime. A multi-method investigation. Journal of Environmental Psychology13:187-206.
37.
Newman, O.1972. Defensible space. Crime prevention through environmental design. New York: Collier.
38.
Pasanen, E.1992. Driving speeds and pedestrian safety; A mathematical model. Technical report no. REPT-77. Nordisk Kabelog Traadfabriker , Copenhagen, Denmark. Helsinki University of Technology, Laboratory of Traffic and Transportation Engineers , Espoo, Finland.
39.
Pasanen, E.1993. The video recording of traffic accidents. Report no.1993:4. Helsinki, Finland, City Planning Department.
40.
Perkes, C.2001. Nonprofits buying into Minnie Street: Agencies are working to refurbish run-down housing in a Santa Ana neighborhood. Orange County Register, March 5, A.
41.
Pitt, R., B. Guyer, H. Chung-Cheng, and M. Malek.1990. The severity of pedestrian injuries in children: An analysis of the pedestrian injury causation study. Accident Analysis and Prevention22:549-59.
42.
Pyatok, M.2000. Comment on Charles C. Bohl's “New Urbanism and the city: Potential applications and implications for distressed inner-city neighborhoods”—The politics of design: The New Urbanists vs. the Grass Roots. Housing Policy Debate11 (4): 803-14.
43.
Reza, H.G.2001. Revamp of homes is dream realized: Tenants, residents of a poor area in Santa Ana will get 127 new apartments, thanks to a city bond issue. Los Angeles Times, July 29, B7.
44.
Roberts I., T. Ashton, R. Dunn, and T. Lee-Joe.1994Preventing child pedestrian injury: Pedestrian education or traffic calming? Australian Journal of Public Health18:209-12.
45.
Ross, C.E.2000. Walking, exercising, and smoking: Does neighborhood matter?Social Science and Medicine51 (2): 265-74.
46.
Schofer, J.L., K.K. Christoffel, M. Donovan, J.V. Lavigne, R.R. Tanz, and K.E. Wills.1995. Child pedestrian injury taxonomy based on visibility and action. Accident Analysis and Prevention . 27:317—33.
47.
Shankar, U.2003. Pedestrian roadway fatalities. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Report no. DOT HS 809 456. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation.
48.
Skogan, W.1986. Fear of crime and neighborhood change. Crime and Justice8:203-29.
49.
Skogan, W.G.1990. Disorder and decline: Crime and the spiral decay in American neighborhoods. New York: Macmillan .
50.
Stevenson, M.R., S.K. Lo, B.A. Laing, and K.D. Joarzik.1992. Childhood pedestrian injuries in the Perth metropolitan area. Medical Journal of Australia156:234-8.
51.
Taylor, R., and A. Harrell.1996. Physical environment and crime. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice Research Report.
52.
Transportation Alternatives.2002. The 2002 summary of safe routes to school programs in the United States. New York: Transportation Alternatives.
53.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.1996. Physical activity and health: A report to the Surgeon General. Atlanta: Author.
54.
U.S. Department of Transportation.1994. Final report: The national bicycling and walking study. Transportation choices for a changing America. Washington, DC: Author.
55.
Wazana, A., P. Krueger, P. Raina, and L. Chambers.1997. A review of risk factors for child pedestrian injuries: Are they modifiable? Injury Prevention3:311-8.
56.
Wekerle, G.R., and C. Whitzman.1995. Safe cities: Guidelines for planning, design, and management. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
57.
Whitebread, D., and K. Neilson.2000. The contribution of visual search strategies to the development of pedestrian skills by 4-11 year-old children. British Journal of Educational Psychology70:539-57.
58.
Zegeer, V., and S.F. Zegeer.1988. Pedestrian and traffic control measures. Transportation Research Board Synthesis. Report no. 139. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.
59.
Zegeer, C., J.R. Stewart, H. Huang, P. Lagerway, J. Feaganes, and B.J. Campbell.2005. Safety effects of marked versus unmarked crosswalks at uncontrolled locations: Final report and recommended guidelines. Report no. FHWA-HRT-04-100. McLean, VA: Federal Highway Administration.
60.
Zelinka, A., and D. Brennan.2001. Safescape: Creating safer, more livable communities through planning and design. Chicago: American Planning Association.
