Roots of urban equality: Are low-income neighborhoods paying more for street trees?

Abstract

This study investigates the potential influence of street trees on the single-family housing market in Seattle between 2010 and 2020, specifically examining how the relationship between the number of street trees and housing prices varies across neighborhoods with different income levels. It further discusses the policy implications for promoting environmental justice in urban tree-planting endeavors. We used Seattle’s street tree planting data from the 1950s to 2020 and housing transaction records between 2010 and 2020, covering 61,055 housing transactions. Four buffer lengths were applied to associate street trees with individual housing parcels and transactions. The relationship between street trees and the single-family housing market was evaluated through linear regressions and spatial lag models using Spatial Two-stage Least Squares (S2SLS). An interaction term between the number of street trees and neighborhood income was also used to examine the potential varying associations across neighborhoods with different income levels. Subsequently, we calculated the marginal implicit price (MIP) across the city. The results indicate that street trees are valued more in the housing market of lower-income areas. The findings underscore the importance of community-based intervention in the tree-planting process, especially in lower-income areas, to promote environmental justice and enhance neighborhood greenery.