In a recent Baltimore Sun piece about city businesses that are struggling to survive, councilmember Mark Conway said something both insightful and courageous.  He acknowledged a key factor damaging the city’s economy:  the widespread appearance of public disorder.  “There’s a lot to be said for the ‘broken windows theory,’” he noted.  “If an area looks clean, is taken care of… people are more likely to spend time there, to spend money there.”
 

To be clear, the broken windows to which Mr. Conway refers are metaphorical.  The basic idea here is that small signs of disorder breed more disorder; conversely, strategies aimed at enhancing public order in a neighborhood can create a virtuous circle.  That is, maintaining even an appearance of order can increase residents’ sense of safety and, by engaging them in the habit of “self-policing,” might even reduce crime rates.
 

The councilmember’s comments were courageous because the kind of pro-active policing often linked to broken windows theory provoked a furious counter-attack in the media and among left-leaning academics (admittedly a redundancy).  But broken windows policing worked.  Even those who question the magnitude of its effects, however, should heed the wisdom of George Kelling, one of the originators of the theory:  “Strangers have to feel comfortable moving through communities for those communities to thrive.  Order is an end in itself, and it doesn’t need the justification of serious crime.”
 

This is why the city’s declining homicide rate (down from ten times the national average in 2019 to roughly six times the USA rate last year) has not translated to an improved perception of safety.  Throughout Baltimore, metaphorical broken windows are common and increasing in number.  Graffiti, dirt bikes, squeegee shakedowns (all illegal), and other symptoms of disorder and lawlessness are pervasive; they send a clear signal that it’s probably safer to spend time and money outside our fair city.
 

Since Mr. Conway chairs the city’s Public Safety committee, we look forward to his plan to repair these windows.  But state officials need to pitch in.  As one Fells Point shopkeeper observed in a recent interview, “the juveniles are out of control.” The Sun’s Armstrong Williams has argued, therefore, that it’s past time for “new personnel and a new approach” to juvenile crime.  Spot on:  failing to hold our young people accountable for minor crimes risks inviting them to escalate to major ones.
 

But some of this disorder is, frankly, on us.  Too many of us are not only failing to teach our children how to behave, but neglecting even to make sure they’re in school.  Too often we act as enablers, not just ignoring delinquency but suggesting it's cool; celebrating it.  If we want a truly healthy city and a thriving urban economy, we have to do better.
 

Stephen J.K. Walters (swalters@mdpolicy.org) is the author of Boom Towns:  Restoring the Urban American Dream, and Chief Economist at the Maryland Public Policy Institute.