LIVING WITH CRIME - THE IMPLICATIONS OF RACIAL ETHNIC-DIFFERENCES IN SUBURBAN LOCATION

In this article, we investigate racial/ethnic differences in exposure to crime in suburbs In our research site, part of the greater New York metropolitan region, we find clear-cut racial/ethnic differences in average exposure to property and violent crime: blacks are most exposed, whites and Asians are least; Hispanics are in between. Then, using a novel technique for constructing cross-level regression models when a matching data set is not available, we test in two stages whether (1) individual-level and (2) contextual variables can explain differences among the groups. Such individual-level variables as household income and homeownership do predict the crime level of an individual's community of residence, but they do little to explain group differences in exposure to crime, especially between blacks and other groups. Three contextual variables, reflecting community racial composition, extent of poverty, and population size, constitute a more powerful explanation of individual and group variations.