ancient cities

640 Red-Light District
characterized by population decline, suggesting that
there was generally a correlation of high land values
and low rents in areas that were in a “direct line of
business expansion” and therefore allowed to deteriorate—that
is to say, in zones of acquisition rather
than zones of discard. However, he noted that some
activities were migrating away from city centers and
accessible only by car or taxi. In 1994, the New
York City Department of City Planning similarly
argued, “Adult entertainment businesses tend to be
transitional, and locate in areas that are ‘moving
upwards’; they are rarely found in poorer neighborhoods.”
It was even suggested that “some major
real estate developments owe their existence to the
ability of landlords to warehouse property by renting
space to adult businesses that are willing to
accept high rents and short leases during the period
when a major assemblage is underway” (p. 26).
Although the initial concentration may be accidental,
successful activities may attract similar
ones, leading to clustering like that described by
Hotelling’s Law. Retailing depends on information:
Customers and clients need to know what is on
offer and where. This is particularly true of redlight
districts. In contrast to most forms of retailing,
adult entertainment has been characterized by
an information deficit. Until recently, merchants
could not (or would not) publicize their wares or
location. They had to locate where customers were,
rather than waiting to be found. Most customers
went to places where they knew shops or prostitutes
were located, forcing adult services to locate
in places that customers patronized. These clusters
attracted like services. They often repelled nonconforming
businesses by creating a moral atmosphere
that discouraged other kinds of retailing and entertainment
and by driving up rents for stores. In such
districts, competition for customers is fierce, and
turnover among shops is often high. In New York
City, in the early 1990s, the Department of City
Planning found that about 15 percent of all outlets
in the city disappeared within six months. High
turnover is another reason for clustering: Although
individual stores may disappear, the district’s overall
orientation remains the same.
Contemporary Issues
Planners, local governments, and property developers
have argued that a reputation as a red-light
district causes blight: people fear crime, contamination,
stigmatization from being associated with
adult entertainment by proximity, lower property
values, and lack of custom. However, red-light districts
can bring benefits. They are often located in
neighborhoods that might be described as incubation
districts: relatively central but underdeveloped,
with small manufacturing and retailing spaces that
also include adult entertainment outlets and shops
selling sexually oriented products, such as videos,
magazines, clothing, and accessories. Such districts
can attract a mix of business start-ups. Many will
fail, but some may succeed. More recently, Richard
Florida and others have suggested that such neighborhoods
are both a product of and foster diversity,
which leads to innovation and growth. The
implication is that the different moral setting in the
district can itself stimulate innovation and that
moral districts can be assets as well as liabilities.
Since 1945, there has been a global expansion
of adult entertainment. Although partly due to
changing values, reflected in declining censorship
of films and publications, it was also due to
increasing living standards; lower publishing costs,
particularly for color printing; and the rise of videos.
These substantially transformed the industry.
The rise of the cinema caused the decline of live
theaters, and television fostered the decline of cinemas.
In 1930, 65 percent of the U.S. population
went to the movies at least once a week. By 1966,
the figure was 10 percent. Unable to attract viewers
to traditional films, many theater owners
turned to adult films, particularly in relatively tolerant
cities like New York. In the 1960s, relaxed
censorship caused an explosion of publications
and the opening of new clubs and bars featuring
sex, but the rise of the adult video further altered
the adult entertainment industry. The New York
City Department of City Planning found that in
1984, New York had no adult video shops, but by
1993, it had 64. Bookstores and peepshows
declined from 29 to 22, and cinemas and live theaters
fell from 23 to 11, a phenomenon replicated
in other cities. By contrast, topless bars and nude
bars increased from 23 in 1976 to 54 in 1984, and
to 68 by 2000, in line with nationwide trends.
Overall, in New York City, the total number of
adult entertainment outlets increased from 131 in
1984 to 177 in 1993—the increase being among
video stores and topless entertainment.