Aug 25 2009

The Secret of Successful Cities: Walkability

Posted by: Jonathan Marshall

There's a reason home prices in San Francisco have held up so well during the current recession, while those in other California cities have fallen by as much as a third--and it goes beyond views, history and charm.

It's walkability--the ability to grab a latte, drop off your clothes at the cleaner and get your hair cut without once having to brave traffic to drive to a mall.

A new study sponsored by CEOs for Cities, a national organization dedicated to "sustaining the next generation of great American cities," documents the strong correlation between home values and the walkability of residential neighborhoods.

The report, Walking the Walk: How Walkability Raises Housing Values in U.S. Cities by Portland, Ore.-based economist Joseph Cortright, found that more walkable neighborhoods typically command premiums ranging from $4,000 to $34,000 per home, controlling for other factors such as size, age, access to jobs and distance from downtown.

Cortright analyzed real estate transactions in 15 urban markets, including Fresno, Sacramento, San Francisco and Stockton. He assigned a Walk Score to each neighborhood, ranging from 0 to 100, based on the proximity of restaurants, schools, parks, stores, libraries and other services. For a typical neighborhood, each one-point increase in the Walk Score increased home values $700 to $3,000.

"Even in a turbulent economy, we know that walkability adds value to residential property just as additional square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms and other amenities do," said Cortright.  "It's clear that consumers assign a tangible value to the convenience factor of living in more walkable places with access to a variety of destinations."

Want to know your neighborhood's Walk Score--or the score of a home you're thinking of buying? Check out the Walk Score website (of course), plug in the address, and you'll not only get the score, but a list of walkable destinations, a Google map with icons and details of the property, included estimated market value and property taxes.  (Good news: my home scored 92 out of 100--a "walkers' paradise.")

Said Walk Score founder Mike Mathieu of the new CEOs for Cities study, "Walking the Walk shows definitively what we've always believed - that homes in walkable neighborhoods continue to be a good investment, and are one of the simplest and most effective solutions to fight climate change, improve our health, and strengthen our communities. Our vision is for every property listing to include a Walk Score: Beds: 3 Baths: 2 Walk Score: 84." (Walk Scores are now also available on Zillow.com, ZipRealty.com, and Postlets.com.)

So if you're a city planner, you may not be able to match the Golden Gate Bridge or San Francisco's Victorians, but you can work to deliver what residents are voting for with dollars and their feet: walkability. As Carol Coletta, president of CEOs for Cities, put it, "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."

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