Study w/ Jax: Walkable Area Homes Sell for More $$$

[stjr]

The story below from CNN Money features Jacksonville.  Maybe we should put more effort in making Downtown and surroundings more walkable with wider sidewalks than pursue some other options:

Putting a price on walkability
Posted by David Futrelle
August 22, 2009 11:13 pm

How much is walkability worth? An intriguing new study suggests that people are willing to pay considerable premiums for houses in neighborhoods that are highly walkable â€" that is, where you can actually get to nearby stores, schools, and parks without having to hop in the car.

The study, conducted by a group called CEOs for Cities, looked at 90,000 homes in 15 different markets in the US, mashing up home sales data with “walkability” scores from WalkScore.com. (See the press release describing the study here, or download the study itself, in pdf form, here.) In 13 of the 15 areas studied, homes in highly walkable neighborhoods sold on average for $4000 to $34,000 more than homes in neighborhoods of average walkability. The pattern held in locations as diverse as Chicago, Tucson, and Jacksonville, Florida; only in Las Vegas were more-walkable neighborhoods less desirable than less-walkable ones. To the author of the study, Joseph Cortright, this suggests that neighborhood walkability is “more than just a pleasant amenity,” and deserves far more attention from politicians and other urban leaders.

Is this study simply saying that people pay more for homes in high-density metropolitan areas? Well, no; the study controls for this effect, as well as for a host of other factors (like home size, neighborhood income levels, and access to jobs) that might have affected the results.

Still, the results should be seen as only preliminary, in part because the walkability scores they use are crude at best. The idea behind the WalkScore.com website is ingenious: you plug in your address, and the site uses Google Maps data on the locations of various businesses, schools, libraries and so on to calculate a personalized walkability score.

The problem is that this Google data is incomplete: many businesses aren’t in the database and those that are can be mischaracterized. When I punched in the address of my Chicago apartment, I got a walkability score of 97 out of 100 (”Walkers Paradise”), which seems about right; my neighborhood is lousy with restaurants, grocery stores, and all sorts of little shops. When I used the address of my parents’ suburban home, WalkScore declared their neighborhood “car dependent,” which is also correct.

The results I got all seemed more or less accurate. But the way WalkScore generates these results is still somewhat problematic. Looking into the data they used for my neighborhood, I noticed that it omitted countless restaurants, including most of my favorites, and miscategorized a bunch of different performance venues as “movie theaters.”

The authors of the study are well aware that WalkScore has what they call “both conceptual and technical limitations.” But it is still pretty good as a rough-and-ready guide to walkability, and as Google’s data gets better, so will WalkScore’s results.

The implications of the report? In the broadest sense, as Cortright notes, the results seem to confirm that many urban residents agree with urban guru Jane Jacobs that dense, mixed use neighborhoods are more vibrant and interesting than soulless planned developments or suburban sprawl.

In more practical terms, CEOs for Cities head Carol Coletta argues in her group’s press release, the study’s results “tell us that if urban leaders are intentional about developing and redeveloping their cities to make them more walkable, it will not only enhance the local tax base but will also contribute to individual wealth by increasing the value of what is, for most people, their biggest asset.”

http://moneyfeatures.blogs.money.cnn.com/2009/08/22/putting-a-price-on-walkability/

[CS Foltz]

Well if the City had any vision, which it does not, any planning,which it does not also, this is something that should have been taken into account to begin with rather than trying to account for after the fact. Gotta love the City for its lack of vision! Stupid Administration is good for occupying space and using oxygen and thats about it!

[thelakelander]

Before the city worries about widening sidewalks, it needs to start requiring pedestrian scaled site design/building layout solutions during the permitting process.  All the wide sidewalks in the world won't matter if there are parking lots and blank walls between them and the destinations we want pedestrians to walk to.

[Lunican]

Also, narrow sidewalks don't keep people away if there is an actual reason for them to be there.

Narrow Sidewalks

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Wide Sidewalks

Jacksonville

[stjr]

Also, narrow sidewalks don't keep people away if there is an actual reason for them to be there.

Lake, I agree on your point about creating reasons for people to walk.  Jax has done a miserable job with creating this - and what little we have had has been run off by building demolition, city street and public space "improvement" projects that tore up streets for months and years, rather than weeks, and the $ky-high-way killing off all street business during its lengthy construction.

But, I think giving reasons to walk goes hand in hand with pedestrian friendly sidewalks.  What I am looking for is something that can support cafe tables, benches, nice lighting, transit stops, trees and other landscaping, signage, valet parking stands, street musicians, food stands, festival tables and/or booths, etc. AND a significant amount of pedestrians walking at least 2 across in each direction.  Now that would be a winning combination!

[CS Foltz]

stjr I concur! Not only do people need a reason to walk....they need to be able to do it! Current Administration has ,once again, no vision and no planning for much of anything. They spend money and time trying to play catchup and that is not prudent nor wise. I don't see much of anything to correct the situation being done either! Proper planning would have helped but that is lacking also!

[Captain Zissou]

They spend money and time trying to play catchup and that is not prudent nor wise.

CS, I agree with you here.  I think the administration is finally trying to play catchup due to years of ignorance and poor planning previously.  I think our administration is making some progress, but we are far behind the times.  Eventually we will have the innovative and vibrant development of other cities, but for the first time in a few years, I think the lights are on in many of our civic leaders' heads.

[CS Foltz]

Boy oh Boy....I sure as heck hope so! Jacksonville has just about an unlimited range of possibilities and the current Administration needs to come up into the 20th Century spec wise!

[tufsu1]

Well if the City had any vision, which it does not, any planning,which it does not also, this is something that should have been taken into account to begin with rather than trying to account for after the fact. Gotta love the City for its lack of vision! Stupid Administration is good for occupying space and using oxygen and thats about it!

you know its really easy to complain about things a blog site....but actually getting involved in the planning process to see what/how things work (or don't work) requires a bit more effort!

[Ocklawaha]

Boy oh Boy....I sure as heck hope so! Jacksonville has just about an unlimited range of possibilities and the current Administration needs to come up into the 20th Century spec wise!

I'd think we need to hit the 19Th Century before we try for something as advanced as the late 20Th Century. "Down where the Cows Ford...You know."

OCKLAWAHA

[CS Foltz]

Well.....more than willing to participate gentlemen! Due to the nature of my work kinda hard....but do try and make "Ethics Commission" meetings since the City appears to be lacking. Ms Carla and Co are trying to do the job and are slowly moving in that direction. Try and make City Hall meetings to get a feel for the direction that the Council is moving and see just who has what to say. Most Commissions are made up of a volunteer group and if there were some place to sign up for any of them......tell me where to go! This is my City also and I have a vested interest in it. This Forum is new to me, known about it for awhile but I usually work on the JOL Forum. This one looks like it can be interesting!

[tufsu1]

well tonight is a great opportunity...come on out to the Main Library from 5:30 - 7:30 and get involved in the Long Range Transportation Plan....as Ock/mvp noted on another thread, between 8 and 12 people showed up at the open house in St. Augustine last night.....and those meetings have been advertisd/promoted all over the place (including on this site)

There is no hope of changing our leader's perceptions and priorities if only 10 people show up at meetings!

[Deuce]

^ I sincerely wish I could make this meeting tonight. I'm glad to hear the results of this study. I live in a walkable neighborhood, we just don't have a lot of great places to walk to right now, but that's improving. Two years ago there wasn't anything worth walking to except Ole. Now there's the commercial dev. at 3rd & Main, 3 Layers, & the dog park. Maybe in a couple more years, there will be several decent restaurants (by this I mean a Burrito Gal, Mossfire, or Chews), a dry cleaners, or a gourmet g store.

[CS Foltz]

Would love to but due to working tonight .....not possible! Will there be anymore meeting regarding this subject?

[tufsu1]

tomorrow night in Clay County...and Thursday night at the SE Jax Library.

And there will be public meetings before the final plan is adopted....but your best chance to be heardis now.

Of course you can also go on www.northfloridatpo.com and submit your comments