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Walkable Neighborhoods Have Higher Home Values08-25-09 | News

Walkable Neighborhoods Have Higher Home Values




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All sorts of variables affect housing prices: the size and age of the home, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, neighborhood incomes, the distance from major job centers. Walkable neighborhoods tend to be worth more because they?EUR??,,????'???re closer to downtown. ?EUR??,,????'??? Courtesy of city of Sammamish, Wash.


The next time you design or install residences, you may want to include sidewalks. A report from CEOs for Cities, ?EUR??,,????'??Walking the Walk: How Walkability Raises Home Values in U.S. Cities,?EUR??,,????'?? contended that more walkable neighborhoods increase home values. According to CEOs for Cities, data was analyzed from 94,000 real estate transactions in 15 major markets provided by ZipRealty and found that in 13 of the 15 markets, higher levels of walkability, as measured by Walk Score, were directly linked to higher home values.

CEOs for Cities added: ?EUR??,,????'??The study found that in the typical metropolitan area, a one-point increase in Walk Score was associated with an increase in value ranging from $700 to $3,000 depending on the market. The gains were larger in denser, urban areas like Chicago and San Francisco and smaller in less dense markets like Tucson and Fresno.?EUR??,,????'??

Walk score?EUR??,,????'???s algorithm calculates the distance to the closest amenities (restaurants, schools, parks, subway stations, etc.) from any U.S. address. According to CEOs for Cities the algorithim determines a walk score in the range of 0-100; 100 is the most walkable, while 0 means totally car-dependent. People can function in a neighborhood without a car if the walk score is more than 70.

Carol Coletta, president of CEOs for Cities argued that redeveloping cities to make them more walkable 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. – CEOs for Cities

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