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In case you missed it: 'broken widows' theory, clinic delay

E-mail|Link|Comments (0) Posted by Elizabeth Cooney February 9, 2009 07:25 AM

A 20 percent plunge in calls to police from certain parts of Lowell compared to others is seen as strong scientific evidence that the long-debated "broken windows" theory really works - that disorderly conditions breed bad behavior, and that fixing them can help prevent crime.

Framingham Community Health Center was "shovel-ready" to start construction on a building on Waverly Street last fall, four years after a protracted approval process. But the national economic crisis chilled its chances of raising the $20 million it needed to go forward. The same conditions that are tightening the budgets of foundations and other potential benefactors are also hurting the people the health center hopes to help.

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Elizabeth Cooney is a former health reporter for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, where she also was a business reporter and an editor. Earlier in her career, she edited medical books and journals at Little, Brown, and worked for Boston magazine.