Demographic and Crime

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Detroit is the biggest city in Michigan, unfortunately has been plagued with a high crime rate ending in synonymous acts of violence, urban decay, and poverty. A great number of factors are decided upon when determining precise explanations of crime in Detroit. These factors include changes in land use, retail, property values, and transportation, as a person moves away further from the city.

According to Ernest Burgess, and Robert Park, Chicago School, a city was similar to a body and made up of different kinds of organs. The theory attempted to analyze criminality from a social disorganization and ecological standpoint. This theory asserted that a city included distinctive concentric circles that spread from the central business district (CBD).

Supposedly, the further one moves away, the fewer social problems will exist (Williams & McShane, 2009, p.86). The Central Business District made up of factories, limited residential

areas, and industries. Factories and industries encroached upon this zone, and although an undesirable place to live, the cheapest was the zone. The third zone was referred to as the workingman's homes. The further the zones spread, the more expensive the homes was. Based on the research, societal ills drops, the further one moved from the first zone.

The number of factors ended in social disorganization. Byron Groves and Robert Sampson believed that mixture of different ethnicity, economic status, and broken homes and destroyed families all contributed to social disorganization. This theory is suitable to Detroit but does not effectively make clear contemporary geography neither does it make clear criminality within Detroit. Central Business District is located on the Detroit River. This location is for large corporations like Compuware and General Motors.

Retail shops, parks, cultural institutions, and more reasons for land use around downtown. Public housing projects are near downtown and also impoverished areas. Affluent historical

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neighborhoods, subdivisions, and lofts exist because of the revitalization projects. Most of the land is used for either residential or commercial reasons.

Despite crime rates in Detroit lesser crime's happens in the Central Business District than in some major cities. In regard to land use in Detroit, a huge amount of properties are abandoned or either empty. Residences totaling 274,853 are taken although 92,936 are abandoned or empty (United States Census Bureau, 2010). A number of commercial properties sit empty with no explanation.

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Currently, Detroit has suffered greater affects than most of the nation. The already dwindling populations strained because the decline of the auto industry continues to suffer from negative effects that make the possibility of an economic recovery appear bleak. Fortunately, crime is decreasing opposed to rising as most would expect. Property values in the city have dropped tremendously. The average value of a home in Detroit ranges from $50,000 to $99,999, (United States Census Bureau, 2010). Due to estimation, a small margin of error must be considered. Park and Burgess’ theory is accurate in the assumption that when the property values increase, the further away one moves from the center city. For example, Detroit is 83%, Black/African American; the suburb of Grosse Pointe is 99.4% Caucasian. The city of Grosse Pointe is approximately five to seven miles east of the center city of Detroit. Despite the economy, the average home value in Grosse Pointe averages $288,400. Southfield, Michigan, is 16 miles, northwest of downtown Detroit. The average home value in Southfield, Michigan, is $181,500. The city is 31% Caucasian and about 64% Black/African American (United States Census Bureau, 2010). Transportation is limited to bus systems, DDOT (Detroit Department of Transportation) because subways do not exist. An extensive system of freeways and highways are available. According to the United States Census statistics, 48.7% of residents reported using public transportation. A People Mover transports workers through a small area downtown; this is also used to transport persons to events and various locations such as restaurants, entertainment facilities, and retail shops.

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The number in the downtown area is growing. Many smaller businesses have left the city for suburbs. Very few major grocery store chains are within the city and there is one retail discount store, K-Mart. Home Depot and Family Dollar are the only larger chains inside the city. Most residents must shop at local or neighborhood grocery stores with inflated prices, or shop in suburbs that border the city. No matter how many factors considered, a large amount of crime occurs throughout Detroit as a result of the decline of the auto industry, the influx of drugs (specifically crack during the eighties), corruption in politics, reduction in city services education, and the passiveness of citizens.

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Zones of Transitions and Crime Hot Spots[pic 2]

Detroit is currently a city in transition, a city attempting to come to grips with profound job-loss, urban decay, social disorganization, and distrust in politics. The current economic and social struggles facing the city of Detroit also include a zone of transition in which many factors are contributing to the expansion. A zone of transition is an area of land within a geographic location that rests in between the city’s factory zone and working class zone. The zone of transition is part of a larger city model known as the concentric zone model. This model attempts to explain building the layout of many cities around an area with a heavy concentration of factories (Dwyer, 2010, pp.114-116). The concentric zone model takes into consideration that city construction revolves around a central business district. Lying just outside the central business district is the factory zone, zone of transition, working class zone, residential zone, and commuter zone (Dwyer, 2010, pp. 118). Driving the once solid economy of Detroit, the automotive industry is experiencing a lack of growth with negative implications. As seen in recent years, the elimination of many factory jobs is resulting in the expansion of the zone of transition. The factory zone is decreasing in size because of job loss, which results in shrinking the working class zone. With the factory zone and working

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