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less desirable to people who would have the ability and inclination to improve their <br /> homes. <br /> The Working Group made some inquiry to determine to what extent smaller cities <br /> 1 outside the Twin Cities Metropolitan area suffered adverse impacts of sexually oriented <br /> businesses. The Working.Group was informed by the chiefs of police of Northfield and <br /> Owatonna that neither city had adult bookstores or similar sexually oriented <br /> businesses. Police- chiefs in Rochester and Winona stated that sexually oriented <br /> businesses in their communities operate in non-residential areas. In addition, there is <br /> no, "concentration" problem. In Rochester, there are two facilities in a shopping mall <br /> and a single bookstore in a depressed commercial/business neighborhood. The <br /> • Winona store is located in a downtown business area. The police chiefs stated that <br /> they had no evidence of increased crime rates in the area adjacent to these facilities. <br /> They had no information as to the effect which these businesses might have on local <br /> property values. <br /> Information presented to the Working Group indicates that community impacts of <br /> . sexually oriented businesses are primarily a function of two variables, proximity to <br /> 10 residential areas and concentration. Property values are directly affected within a small <br /> radius of the location of a sexually oriented business. Concentration may compound <br /> depression of property values and may lead to an increase in crime sufficient to change <br /> the quality of life and perceived desirability of property in a neighborhood. <br /> The evidence suggests that the impacts of sexually oriented businesses are <br /> exacerbated when they are located near each other. Police officers testified to the <br /> Working Group, that "vice breeds vice." When sexually oriented businesses have <br /> multiple uses (i.e. theater, bookstore, nude dancing, peep booths), one building can <br /> have the impact of several separate businesses. The Working Group heard testimony <br /> that concentration of sexually oriented businesses creates a "war zone" which serves <br /> as a magnet for people from other areas who "know" where to find prostitutes and <br /> sexual entertainment. The presence of bars in the immediate vicinity of sexually <br /> oriented businesses also compounds impacts upon the neighborhood. <br /> -13- <br />