Why living in an area with more businesses and denser housing might help keep you safer on the street

Recent decades have seen two important trends in America's cities: a return of young professionals to previously neglected urban cores, and a dramatic decline in violent crime. In new research, which explores these patterns, Tate Twinam examines the link between crime and the density of land use in Chicago. He finds that in residential areas that also contain shops and other businesses, the denser the housing, the lower the rate of robberies and street assaults.