Good News for Diversity: Crime Rate Is Lower

Roanoke's symbol of diversity is Pearl Fu of Local Colors. The Swastika isn't hers.

A couple of years ago, I wrote a piece about diversity and economic development. Seems the more diverse cities in the U.S. were--including and especially those who welcomed the gay community--the more successful.

Now comes some new findings by economic development guru Richard Florida telling us that diversity is behind the monumental recent drop in crimes in inner cities, going against all traditional thinking and trends. When the economy is in the bag--as it is--crime almost always goes up in congested areas. But this time around, in the most crowded and poorest parts of our urban areas, it's going down.

Florida's Atlantic piece is here and Kaid Benfield's observations in Grist are here. They're both worth reading, but I don't want to repeat them here.

I'll leave the speculation about why all this is true to others, but it seems to me that doing the right thing often has positive results.