Colleges and Community Crime: An Analysis of Campus Proximity and Neighborhood Crime Rates

Property and violent crime have been associated in past research with many of the same lifestyle features typical of college students and the structural characteristics of the neighborhoods where students generally cluster. According to opportunity theory, individuals with the lifestyles and routine activities similar to college students are vulnerable to victimization. Therefore, higher rates of crime can be expected in the neighborhoods that surround college campuses. Using data from the National Neighborhood Crime Survey, this study uses multilevel negative binomial regression to analyze the relationship between proximity to a college campus and rates of violent and property crime. Results show that bordering tracts have higher rates of larceny, burglary, and robbery, controlling for other neighborhood- and city-level indicators of crime.