NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The federal government is providing $2.3 million to study whether clearing up blighted property in New Orleans reduces teen and family violence.

  

Tulane University researchers will work closely with the city and community groups to clean up 300 blighted properties across New Orleans.

  

Lead investigator Katherine Theall said in a news release they will compare crime rates in those neighborhoods with similar areas where blighted lots and buildings are left untouched.

  

Theall says they will work with Columbia University epidemiologist Charles Branas, who has reported that gun assaults in Philadelphia dropped 9 percent after vacant lots were cleared in high-crime areas.

  

Theall says that as far as she knows, her study is the first study to look specifically at youth and family violence.