Preventing Firearm Violence: An Evaluation of Urban Blight Removal in High Risk Communities, Cleveland, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan, 2011-2017 (ICPSR 39534)

Version Date: Jul 16, 2026

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Principal Investigator(s):
Rose M.C. Kagawa, University of California-Davis

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39534.v1

Version V1

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Summary

This study evaluated the effects of demolishing or rehabilitating vacant and decaying buildings in Cleveland, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan as a violence prevention measure. Researchers used detailed longitudinal property-level data from 2011-2017 in Cleveland, Ohio and 2017 in Detroit, Michigan, to estimate the effects of demolition and rehabilitation of vacant and decaying properties under different targeting strategies and concentrations. The data produced by this study were aggregated into neighborhood-level variables of varying geographic specificity, which measure the study's primary outcome, firearm violence, and primary exposures, property demolition and rehabilitation. These data also include contextual variables reporting socioeconomic data, demographics, additional violent and nonviolent crime rates, and neighborhood composition variables (e.g. counts of commercial lots, apartments, single family homes/condominiums, etc.) at the neighborhood-level.

Citation

Kagawa, Rose M.C. Preventing Firearm Violence: An Evaluation of Urban Blight Removal in High Risk Communities, Cleveland, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan, 2011-2017. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2026-07-16. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39534.v1

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Funding

United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice (2017-IJ-CX-0021)

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

Census block

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

2009 -- 2017

Date of Collection

2009-01 -- 2016-12
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Study Purpose

The purpose of this study was to inform the design and use of government sponsored property interventions (demolitions and rehabilitations) intended to reduce firearm violence and other forms of crime. Core objectives of this study included:

  1. Estimating the effect of demolishing or rehabilitating blighted properties on firearm violence, non-firearm violence, and property crime rates.

  2. Determining the concentration of interventions needed to produce the greatest change in firearm violence, non-firearm violence, and property crime rates.

  3. Measuring how property and neighborhood characteristics affect the aforementioned associations between demolishing or rehabilitating blighted properties and firearm violence, non-firearm violence, and property crime rates.

Study Design

Researchers gathered quarterly, parcel-level data for 'high risk' areas, defined by the occurrence of at least one firearm violence incident within a half mile of the center of the unit of analysis over the study period. These parcel-level data were drawn from a variety of pre-existing administrative sources. Complete listings of data sources used for each of the 5 resulting datasets are listed in the associated P.I. Codebooks.

The Detroit Census Block Groups Data and Detroit Census Blocks Data were organized at the Census Block Group and Census Block level respectively. Researchers used data from the Detroit Open Data Portal to characterize each block on a quarterly basis as having received demolition (of any building type) or not.

The Cleveland Hexagons Data were organized at the level of a 'Cleveland Hexagon.' Researchers created this geographic unit by dividing Cleveland, Ohio into a grid of 761 uniform, 2000 foot wide hexagons. The Cleveland Hexagons Data exclude hexagons with less than 80% of their area within Cleveland city limits, and hexagons that lacked residential parcel centroids. Parcel-level, quarterly data were aggregated to the hexagon level based on the location of each parcel's centroid.

The Cleveland Parcels Demolition Data and Cleveland Parcels Rehabilitation Data were organized at both the parcel and neighborhood-level. The demolition data include data from 34 unique Cleveland neighborhoods, and the rehabilitations data include data from 33.

Sample

Approximately 385,000 Detroit properties and 160,000 Cleveland properties were reviewed to identify neighborhoods with at least one incident of firearm violence within a half mile of the center of the unit of analysis over the 2009-2017 study period.

Time Method

Longitudinal, Cross-sectional, Longitudinal: Trend / Repeated Cross-section

Universe

Neighborhoods in Detroit, Michigan and Cleveland, Ohio at high risk for firearm violence.

Unit(s) of Observation

Geographic Unit

Data Source

Valassis Direct Mail Inc. Valassis national enhanced file plus. 2017.

Cleveland Police Department. Department Crime Reports. Cleveland, OH, USA, 2020.

US Census Bureau LE-HS. Workplace area characteristics (WAC) file, primary jobs. 2017.

City of Detroit Office of the Assessor. Property attributes, Sales transactions. 2012-2017.

Wayne County Treasurer. Property tax delinquency. 2017.

United States Census Bureau. LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics Data. 2002-2019.

Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, MSASS, Case Western Reserve University. NEO CANDO System, Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development. Cleveland, OH, USA, 2021.

Detroit Open Data Portal. RMS crime incidents, Demolition permits, Completed residential demolitions. 2009-2017.

US Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 5 Year Estimates. 2017.

Data Type(s)

Description of Variables

The five datasets produced by this study include a similar range of variables describing crime rates, property-related variables (e.g. counts of vacant lots, building/lot types), building rehabilitations, and building demolitions for communities in Cleveland, Ohio and Detroit, MI. Datasets one through three include neighborhood-level socioeconomic and demographic data to further characterize each area. Datasets four and five are more narrowly focused on demolitions data and rehabilitations data respectively.

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Original Release Date

2026-07-16

Version History

2026-07-16 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

  • Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

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Notes

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

  • ICPSR usually offers files in multiple formats for researchers to be able to access data and documentation in formats that work well within their needs. If you have questions about the accessibility of materials distributed by ICPSR or require further assistance, please visit ICPSR’s Accessibility Center.