Targeted Smart Growth Planning Initiatives in the Suburbs: Effects on Home Values

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Although many studies have examined the effects of regional growth management policies on housing prices, little is known about the impact of neighborhood-level smart growth strategies on home values in the targeted and nearby communities. The purpose of this article is to measure the impacts of a pair of geographically focused smart growth planning and development efforts on home values in the suburban context. This article examines two initiatives under the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Center Initiative (LCI) as examples of smart growth planning. The results show that smart growth developments focused both on a smaller scale town center LCI and on a larger scale activity center LCI have positive effects on housing prices inside the target area. However, their effects on adjacent areas differ, with the larger scale activity center having some positive effects on nearby property values, while the smaller scale effort resulted in lower values in some nearby areas. The results indicate that smart growth development programs may contribute to revitalizing old suburban downtown centers, but that the effects of smaller scale efforts may result in predominantly zero-sum outcomes, in which higher values within the target area are accompanied by lower values in adjacent areas.