All Aboard Florida & Property Values

[spuwho]

Lots of hyperbole on how having a new rail service will "ruin" property values when AAF goes into service.

To cut out the hype, Martin County Appraiser wants funding to conduct a study.

I am curious how this study will translate the data. Because having legacy residential next to rail can be an issue when freights increase, less so for passenger. Also, wouldn't values increase as you get closer to the new stations? Granted Martin County isn't getting a station, they just want to know if people are going to dump and sell once the trains start rolling. This impacts the tax base and future civic budgets.

Per The Palm Beach Post:

How All Aboard Florida will affect property values

Martin County Property Appraiser Laurel Kelly is seeking $60,000 to conduct a study on how All Aboard Florida's express passenger train project will affect home values near the tracks and on the water.

Kelly is hoping to partner with Florida Atlantic University's Center for Urban Environmental Solutions on the study, which she said will look at values before All Aboard Florida was announced, after the announcement and after trains start running.

"I think we have to have answers and I don't think anecdotal information is enough," Kelly said. "We need facts and data."

All Aboard Florida plans to run 32 passenger trains per day on the Florida East Coast Railway tracks between Miami and Orlando, with stops in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. The trains will run between 79 mph and 10 mph.

Project opponents are concerned about noise, traffic delays at crossings, an increase in vehicle accidents with the trains and boater backups at the aging St. Lucie River drawbridge, which closes every time a train crosses.

Kelly's request will go before commissioners in early January.

An initial review by Kelly's office found 2,800 properties within 400 feet of the tracks, and 7,337 properties within 1000 feet of the tracks.

About 3,600 waterfront properties are west of the drawbridge.