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Does more light mean less crime?
by Mountain Girl ~ December 18th, 2007. Filed under: Community, Crime, Development.In a previous entry, I blamed the lack of light in the Foodland and Rite-Aid parking lots for encouraging criminal activity. What if there is not in fact a direct relationship between lighting and crime as most people assume?
According to a study done in 2002, increasing outdoor lighting may decrease the fear of criminal activity in a given neighborhood but not necessarily the amount of criminal activity. There is not that much information out there about this topic because it seems intuitive that lighting parking lots and increasing street lights would deter crime. Yet, statistical analysis compiled over one year in various counties in New Jersey show that repairing or enhancing the lighting in urban areas did little to affect the crime rate. However, an increased police presence did.
“It seems more likely that the reduction in crime in the relit area was a consequence of a relatively greater police presence than a lighting change. If the lighting change did anything at all, it would seem possible that it affected police presence instead. Presumably, police are affected by the dark like anyone else, including criminals, and it would hardly be a surprise if they spent relatively more time in the brighter area after relighting, to the extent that they had any discretion to exercise. This could even have been a conscious choice on the basis that the relit area must be a higher crime area requiring their presence because the council had relit it. Given the known effect of police presence on crime and the unknown effect of lighting, the former is the more parsimonious explanation of the crime results.”
Other factors related to criminal activity that weighed in just as heavily as police presence were the unemployment rate and vacancy rate in these areas. This is not to say that we should not lean on business owners to ensure that parking lots are well lit for other reasons of safety. We just need to remember that multi-faceted problems require multi-faceted solutions.
December 21st, 2007 at 8:24 pm
Just wanted to wish you all a Happy Holiday! Great things ahead for our neighborhood in 2008!
December 21st, 2007 at 9:27 pm
Check out this month’s Maniac Magazine. This four year old hip Pittsburgh magazine has an article that showcases four of our cities best diners. Primanti Bros, Ritters, Tom’s Diner and Mt. Washington’s very own Christina’s! Check it out… it’s a great little article and good PR for our neighborhood. You can learn a little more about the magazine at: http://www.maniacmagazine.com
December 27th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Speaking of Mt. Washington eateries, I recently ate at Satalio’s. I’d been there for drinks many times, but never actually ordered food. While we were there, the chef came out and introduced himself and said he’d been there for about two months and had been working hard to make improvements to the dining area. It looked really great. As my group wasn’t particularly hungry, we only ordered one appetizer…but the chef brought us out four appetizers, telling us the other three were on the house! Talk about service! The food was good (pub food, the kind you crave when drinking beer). I can’t wait to go back there and try a full meal. I think they are really working hard to bring in the dinner crowd, it’s definitely worth checking out!
December 28th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Polly:
Thanks for giving Satalio’s some much-needed props. I’m not quite sure why this establishment isn’t touted more. It has an amazing view and I’ve heard good things about the food.
La Tavola is a wonderful Italian restaurant, but there’s no reason we can’t patronize Satalio’s and spread the love a little!
MG
December 29th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
LaTavola has been a real disappointment to me lately. When they first opened their food was really good and reasonable. Now, it has become way overpriced and expect to be there for hours, they charge for parking and sometimes park cars on Bailey! I heard that some famous football player eats there but does that give you reason to raise the prices so much ?
Satalio’s is trying real hard, and their hot stuffed peppers are to die for!!
January 1st, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Hmm, I must respectfully disagree with you Grandview Gal on the LaTavola assessment. My spouse and I eat there on a weekly basis and we’ve never paid for parking. In the 5 years that we’ve been eating there, we haven’t noticed an increase in the prices. However, I must admit that we usually get their wonderful pizza. The margherita pizza is awesome and uses really good quality ingredients. My spouse really likes the pizza de casa, a specialty Sicilian style pizza. We really like the atmosphere of La Tavola too as they’re really unpretentious and more times than not, Joe and Carmela (the owners) come out and talk to us, often giving us free desserts and appetizers. We really can’t say enough great things about that place. And while I’m on the subject, I’m also a big fan of Satalio’s. I’ve only been there once since they made changes to the back dining room, but it looks like they’re working to make great improvements to bring in more regular diners.
January 1st, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I would agree that I am not a big fan of paying for parking, but that is only on weekend nights if you want to park in the adjoining lot. Parking a block away and walking remains a viable option, so it is hardly a big deal.
And overpriced? I hardly think La Tavola is overpriced at all. With entrees ranging from $10 to $25, that is normal for a casual dining restaurant. The overpriced restaurants are those on Grandview, who justify $25+ for average food with a view. And the best part is that with BYO, you don’t have to pay $30 for that bottle of Yellowtail that you could buy at the state store for less than $10.
I routinely take out of town guests to La Tavola, suggesting the stuffed peppers appetizer or their pizza as my personal favorites.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:31 am
Grandview Gal I understand somewhat where your coming from regarding LaTavola. If you stick with Pasta and Pizza your fine. But some of the other entres are slowly going into the $30-35 dollar range. Lets just hope they never get a liquor licence! I do agree its not quite the casual dining experience it used to be, But if you stay away on Fri and Sat, service seems to be ok. Regarding paying for Valet Parking, I still find that somewhat interesting. Another neighborhood restaurant that has good food, music and free valet parking is The Shiloh. I just spoke to John the owner of Satalios, and they had a free New Years Eve Buffet… and they offer it every year.
A bit of info. - a lot of restaurants will let you bring your own bottle, (even though they have a bar) but you have to pay a corkage fee. $5-$10 depending on size of bottle.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:37 am
Mountain Girl,
Do you know if there is a board mtg. of the CDC this week?
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:53 pm
There is a board meeting this Thursday, January 3rd at 7pm at the Senior Center.
Thanks for reminding us GG!
MG