Gun violence spills into new neighborhoods as gentrification displaces drug crime, according to new study

West Virginia University

WVU Today | Gun violence spills into new neighborhoods as gentrification displaces drug crime, according to WVU study

Gentrification doesn’t erase drug crime and gun violence. Instead, research from West Virginia University economist Zachary Porreca shows that when one urban block becomes upwardly mobile, organized criminal activity surges outward to surrounding blocks, escalating the violence in the process.