Disorder and community decline in forty neighborhoods of the United States, 1977-1983

This data collection was designed to evaluate the effects of disorderly neighborhood conditions on community decline and residents' reactions toward crime. Data from five previously collected datasets were aggregated and merged to produce neighborhood-level data on disorder, crime, fear, residential satisfaction, and other key factors in community decline. The 40 neighborhoods studied were located in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Newark, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Variables in the data file include: (1) disorder characteristics such as loitering, drugs, vandalism, noise and gang activity, (2) demographic characteristics such as race, age, and unemployment rate, and (3) neighborhood crime problems such as burglary, robbery, assault, and rape. Information is also available on crime avoidance behaviors, fear of crime on an aggregated scale, neighborhood satisfaction on an aggregated scale, and cohesion and social interaction.