Two of the busiest shopping streets in Brighton and Hove contain more than two dozen vacant premises.
And in the same two streets – Western Road and Church Road – almost two dozen shops have smashed windows.
Hove Conservative MP Mike Weatherley has now written to Brighton and Hove City Council chief executive John Barradell about both issues.
Mr Weatherley asked what plans the council had to remedy the situation having carried out a survey and spoken to shopkeepers.
He is urging the council to embrace “broken windows” theory, which has been the subject of renewed debate since the recent riots.
The concept was set out by social scientists James Q Wilson and George L Kelling in 1982 in an article entitled: “Broken windows.”
The article said: “Consider a building with a few broken windows.
“If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows.
“Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it’s unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside.”
New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton were influenced by the theory when they tackled high crime rates there.
Petty crime and serious crime rates fell dramatically as a result, Mr Weatherley said.
In his letter to Mr Barradell, Mr Weatherley said: “Counting the number of vacant shops from Churchill Square all the way along to the start of New Church Road, there were 25 in total.
“This is a sad state of affairs, but I have less sympathy with the fact that there were 23 shops (open and vacant) with smashed windows.”
why not also take action on the flyposting?