The good news is that we have a large body of scientific research on urban violence. The bad news is that most of it is hidden behind publisher paywalls, written in academic-ese, divided across disciplines and sectors, and of varying quality. Too much research is produced in a bubble. Too many scholars have limited contact with those with actual exposure to crime, leading to studies that pursue abstract academic queries with little relevance to real life. Advances have been made. Systematic reviews address some of these shortcomings by bringing together the best evidence on certain important questions. Think tanks and policy shops frame academic ideas in engaging ways while producing research of their own. Some in the media are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their reporting on urban violence, and some leaders have championed evidence-informed crime policy. Still, too much knowledge remains trapped in academia's ivory tower.