Architecture And Crime

Architecture as a whole has contributed to the rise and fall of civilizations throughout history. The major cities in the United States have flourished due to the surrounding architecture such as high-rise buildings, schools, and houses. Even though architecture seems to have a positive impact on the city as a whole a deeper look must be taken, a look past the major cities which present themselves as things of splendor, a look past the hustle and bustle, a need to look at the part of the cities that are not advertised, the parts where the crime occurs, this is where the result of architecture on the actual person will come into view.

As the United States grew from a low populated area into a large country where people of different backgrounds flocked to, so did the cities. With all these new people coming to the country there needed to be a place for them to live. This is where architecture comes into play related to the flourishing of the country.

The larger cities in the U.S. contain high-rise apartments along with the family like suburbs surrounding the cities. The suburbs are usually single-family homes with yards. But almost inevitably there are the run down housing areas, which are commonly referred to as the ghetto or the projects. The areas of housing such as the projects is where I feel most of the crime occurs. "The local cocaine wars, for example, take place on nearby bad blocks despite a stronger police presence"(Gallagher 442). Gallagher is states that some areas are just destined to have problems with the law, involving drugs, burglary, and even murder. Despite a strong police presence some places cannot escape the grip of crime.

When I turn on the news at night I always hear about a stabbing or shooting in Hartford. On the news I always hear about the Frog Hollow section of Hartford, which seems prone to violence. Most of the crimes in Hartford occur in areas of bad housing. In areas that do not have the best housing more crimes seem to occur because nobody really wants to live in those areas so drug dealers take over the abandoned houses and start to run a business. With drugs being sold other forms of crime come along. Someone needs drugs but doesn't have the money so they resort to shooting someone either for money or for drugs. If there were better housing structures families may want to move