The urban crime spike is real, and all income property owners should be alarmed.
According to the WSJ, “President Trump says crime is rampant in U.S. cities, while his critics assert it is under control.
He sends in the troops while the Associated Press asserts that, the president’s rhetoric mirrors that of conservatives going back decades who have denounced cities, especially those with majority nonwhite populations or led by progressives as lawless or crime ridden and in need of outside intervention.”
So, have our cities become more crime ridden and unpleasant or are they safe and livable?
Newly released results from the Bureau of Justice Statistics/National Crime Victimization survey go a long way toward answering these questions. According to the WSJ, “The survey finds that the rate of violent crime in urban areas increased by 61% from 2019 to 2024. That crime spike was found only in cities.” (the italics are mine)
In suburban and rural areas, the observed increase in violent crime over the same period – 4% and 2% respectively – was not statistically significant.
According to the survey, “In 2019, before George Floyd, pandemic closures and the defunding-the-police movement, the rate of violent crime in urban areas was roughly identical to the rate nationwide.”
Property crime has long been more prevalent in cities than elsewhere. In 2019, the property crime rate was 51% higher in urban areas than the suburbs and exurbs. In 2024, it was 86% higher.
Murders, the easiest crime to count, are also up. In Washington D.C., where Trump has sent troops the number of homicides rose 13% from 2019 to 2024 and 61% from 2017 to 2024.
Closer to home, murders in Portland, OR, nearly doubled from 2019 to 2024.
The huge spike in violent crime in our cities is arguably the most overlooked and under reported story of the last decade. When violent crime doesn’t rise in suburban or rural areas but rises 61% in our cities, that should be big news.
However, 42 of our nation’s 50 biggest cities are run by Democrats. Therefore, the legacy media chooses not to report it.
This is a manifest disservice to all income property owners. Historically more crime has resulted in lower property values as both people and businesses flee.
Wells Fargo Bank just announced it is leaving Portland, OR. In part due to an inability to keep its employees safe. Offices in Portland, Hillsboro, and Salem are laying off hundreds of employees. This will result in higher downtown vacancy rates in already blighted markets.
Fewer businesses and more vacancy means less tax revenue. This results in a diminution and degradational of services, with a corresponding downward economic spiral: a doom loop.
However, there is hope. If governing elites are unwilling or unable to turn our cities around, DST property programs may provide a convenient escape hatch. Their remote ownership and management structure afford CRE investors an opportunity to go anywhere they like.
If you wish to stay closer to home, albeit in a rural or exurban environment, there is a strong possibility that a property or properties that fill this bill can be found.
If you want to go further afield and attempt to capitalize on the current migration of people, money, and business to low/no tax red states, this is easily done as well. A large number of DST properties can be found there.
If current crime trends continue and protecting the integrity of your hard earned sweat equity is important, you may want to consider going both red and rural with DSTs. We’re here to help.
