Complete Streets and Property Values

Northeld, Minn. Env. Studies 255, 2011-12 Sean Hayford Oleary

Results East side (1860s-1960s) Average value: $203 689 Frontage on sidewalk: $222 521 Frontage on 32 or less: $204 605 Mayower Hill (1980s-1990s) Average value: $336 223 Frontage on sidewalk: $321 700 Frontage on 32 or less: $342 895
Fig 1a: East side sidewalks Fig 1b: East side street width

Introduction Complete Streets is a system of designing streets equally for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles. There is no single denition, but generally it means: full sidewalk coverage narrow streets and driving lanes bike lanes where appropriate While there are many community benets to Complete Streets, one major concern to many homeowners will be the effect on property values. Northeld has few areas where streets have been radically changed; as such it is impossible to show causation in a Northeld context. Instead, this project shows overall correlation between home values and two aspects of Complete Streets: sidewalk coverage and street width. Methods 2011 parcel data were obtained from Rice County. 2010 imagery of Northeld from Dakota County was used; sidewalk presence was determined from this imagery. Street width was manually measured Property value was 1. averaged in the whole study area; 2. averaged on those homes that had frontage on a street with at least one sidewalk; and 3. averaged on those homes that had frontage on a street with a width of 32 or less

Jefferson Park (1970s-1980s) Average value: $184 051 Frontage on 32 or less: $186 579
Only ve of 182 homes had frontage on a street with a sidewalk; as such, this was not considered for Jefferson Park.

Discussion [Soon] Literature cited

Fig 2a: Mayower Hill sidewalks

Fig 2b: Mayower Hill street width

Fig 3a: Jefferson Park sidewalks

Fig 3b: Jefferson Park street width