Problem Description
Does the presence of street trees reduce crime in New York City? Do street trees, with their tall, shadow-casting canopies
facilitate criminal activity or do they deter such
activity because they signify a caring and watchful community? Using
street tree census data from 2005 and 2015, I plan to examine the
relationship between crime rates and street tree density in New York at
the Public Use Microdata Area level. I plan to examine this
relationship within each year and across time periods. For example, if
the street tree density for a specific borough or census tract
increased, was there an accompanying decrease in crime for that same
area. I will need to control for factors that are generally believed to
be predictive of crime such as income, security presence, and neighborhood type.
Data
To answer the research question, I’ll be using the following datasets: