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Neighborhood Street Layout and Property Value: The Interaction of Accessibility and Land Use Mix

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Abstract

This paper evaluates how consumers value differences in neighborhood composition and street layout, factors not previously included in empirical studies of house value. Highly connected street patterns are important to New Urbanism. We use measures of neighborhood street connectivity and their interaction with other neighborhood attributes to evaluate how street layout affects property values. We employ two different methods of indexing street layout. Both methods show layout has a significant impact on price, but conclusions are sensitive to the method used. In pedestrian oriented neighborhoods, a more gridiron-like street pattern increases house value using one measure, but greater connectivity decreases house value using the other. In auto-oriented developments, a more gridiron-like street pattern reduces house value using either measure.

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Notes

  1. These examples are derived using Axwoman 3.0 software (Jiang 1999). This software is used to calculate the Integration variable in the empirical models.

  2. Complete estimates are available from the authors upon request.

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Acknowledgement

The authors thank Richard Dagenhart for introducing us to space syntax and an anonymous reviewer for the helpful suggestions. The usual disclaimer applies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fiscal Research Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    John W. Matthews

  2. Department of Economics, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 3992, Atlanta, GA, 30302-3992, USA

    Geoffrey K. Turnbull

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  1. John W. Matthews
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  2. Geoffrey K. Turnbull
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Correspondence to Geoffrey K. Turnbull.

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Matthews, J.W., Turnbull, G.K. Neighborhood Street Layout and Property Value: The Interaction of Accessibility and Land Use Mix. J Real Estate Finan Econ 35, 111–141 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11146-007-9035-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11146-007-9035-9

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