Abstract
This research assesses the appreciation in residential property values in connection with proximity to the Little Miami Scenic Trail, a multi-purpose biking, hiking, and jogging trail built along an abandoned railroad corridor near Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Applying two spatial hedonic frameworks, the spatial lag of X (SLX) model and the spatial Durbin error model, we conclude that proximity to trail entrances had significant impacts on property values for both, Euclidean and network distance measures. Specifically, the SLX results indicate that decreasing the distance to the closest trail entrance by one foot (meter) increases a house’s property value by US$0.92 (US$3.02) when using network distances.
Highlights
In the USA, countless miles of under-utilized and abandoned railroad corridors within urban and suburban areas occupy valuable land resources, negatively affecting nearby communities both economically and aesthetically
Supported by earlier studies and the fact that many people drive to the trail, we argue that the influence of the Little Miami Scenic Trail on residential property values extends beyond those properties adjacent to the trail and chose to include all properties within a 10,000 feet
Our spatial lag of X (SLX) results show that decreasing the distance by 1 foot (0.305 m) appreciates property values by 0.00024%
Summary
In the USA, countless miles of under-utilized and abandoned railroad corridors within urban and suburban areas occupy valuable land resources, negatively affecting nearby communities both economically and aesthetically. Transforming those corridors into beneficial public assets has become a challenge for urban planning practitioners and researchers. Rail trails are characterized as being separate from the street networks, with low slopes, connection to the communities via trail heads, and passing through varying landscapes [2] These characteristics make rail trails very desirable for safe non-auto-oriented connectivity and recreation and provide a feasible option for those cities with redundant, obsolete, and abandoned rail corridors [3]
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