Arrested Development?

When we reflect on the remarkable revival and development that’s occurred in such places as Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood and Venice in recent years, we seldom think of this: Dramatically lower crime rates made that gentrification possible. If you’re younger than, say, 35, you probably don’t remember the so-called crack epidemic. That’s when urban areas across the United States pretty much emptied out in the 1980s and into the ’90s as crime soared. Reports of violent crime in Los Angeles hit a high of 1,824 for every 100,000 people in 1991, according to the state Justice Department. But crime declined thereafter. In fact, it went all the way down to 405 by 2013 – a drop of 78 percent! Property crimes dropped big, too.