STREET BLOCKS WITH MORE NONRESIDENTIAL LAND-USE HAVE MORE PHYSICAL DETERIORATION - EVIDENCE FROM BALTIMORE AND PHILADELPHIA

Divergent theories offer two possible connections between nonresidenti al land use and physical deterioration among urban residential street blocks. Jane Jacobs's model of street blocks indicates that blocks wit h more nonresidential land use will be better kept; studies of territo rial functioning indicate that nonresidential land uses interfere with resident-based informal social control. Here, a comparison of Baltimo re and Philadelphia indicates a significant positive correlation betwe en latent constructs for physical deterioration and nonresidential lan d use. Residential blocks with more nonresidential land uses may have more incivilities because the uses draw more people to the block and/o r because the uses interfere with resident-based territorial functioni ng.