Tim Burgess' City View

Health, Crime and Growth in Southeast Seattle

Two events Saturday afternoon in southeast Seattle—one in the far south, the other up north at Franklin High School—highlighted the challenges and opportunities this culturally rich, growing and important area of our city faces.

We kicked off the afternoon with the grand opening of Neighborcare's sparkling, high quality medical and dental clinic in Rainier Beach.  Neighborcare is the city's largest provider of health services to our low-income and uninsured residents.  They also operate several of our school-based health clinics.

The new Rainier Beach clinic is the first of Neighborcare's facilities to combine dental and medical care at the same location. 

We moved to Franklin High School for a Great Cities event focused on the relationship between health, transportation, growth, and public safety. (Much more after the jump.)

Cutting Crime Through Design

Mayor McGinn is hosting a crime prevention seminar focused on street, sidewalk and open space design factors that are proven to reduce crime.  The details are here for this seminar in Seattle tomorrow evening.

Graffiti and Litter

Councilmember Tom Rasmussen and I have asked the City Auditor to review the City's response to graffiti and litter and recommend ways to improve that response.  We have also asked that the Auditor review how other American cities handle graffiti and litter problems and recommend best practices we might follow here. 

Here is the letter Councilmember Rasmussen and I sent to the City Auditor: Download Jones letter 2010 02 04.

Recent academic studies confirm and quantify the connection between visible environmental disorder and higher rates of crime.  The study from the Netherlands focuses on the negative impacts of litter and graffiti, including documentation of the increase in crime that occurs when these environmental disorders are not cleaned up.  Here is the study from the Netherlands: Download Social Disorder Science 11-20-08.

And here is another study from the Boston area on crime control by paying attention to disorder: Download Criminology August 2008 Street Disorder.