Neighborhood Amenities Research Articles

Understanding gentrification: an empirical analysis of the determinants of urban housing renovation

The “back-to-the-city” phenomenon presented an unpredicted countercurrent in the prevalent tide of suburbanization, and this process of upper-income resettlement in the inner city has been thoroughly analyzed in the urban economic literature. Housing renovation, a process that always accompanies gentrification and constitutes a significant portion of residential housing investment, has been studied much less. Contrary to the expectation that “location matters,” the existing empirical studies have concluded that most neighborhood amenities and structural attributes are insignificant as determinants of renovation. Using a detailed parcel-level data set that documents all residential renovation activity in Chicago between 1995 and 2000, this paper establishes that the characteristics of a building and its neighborhood do indeed influence the likelihood that it will be renovated.

Predicting Spatial Patterns of House Prices Using LPR and Bayesian Smoothing

This article is motivated by the limited ability of standard hedonic price equations to deal with spatial variation in house prices. Spatial patterns of house prices can be viewed as the sum of many causal factors: Access to the central business district is associated with a house price gradient; access to decentralized employment subcenters causes more localized changes in house prices; in addition, neighborhood amenities (and disamenities) can cause house prices to change rapidly over relatively short distances. Spatial prediction (e.g., for an automated valuation system) requires models that can deal with all of these sources of spatial variation. We propose to accommodate these factors using a standard hedonic framework but incoporating a semiparametric model with structure in the residuals modeled with a partially Bayesian approach. The Bayesian framework enables us to provide complete inference in the form of a posterior distribution for each model parameter. Our model allows prediction at sampled or unsampled locations as well as prediction interval estimates. The nonparametric part of our model allows sufficient flexibility to find substantial spatial variation in house values. The parameters of the kriging model provide further insights into spatial patterns. Out–of–sample mean squared error and related statistics validate the proposed methods and justify their use for spatial prediction of house values.

Stated Preference for Pedestrian Proximity: An Assessment of New Urbanist Sense of Community

New urbanist sociospatial reforms, like previ ous urban planning and design syntheses such as the superblock, rely on the assumption that the physical design of communities results in social sense of community. New urbanism's sense of community relies on developing pe destrian-friendly neighborhoods and assumes that suburbanites are so deprived of physical sense of community that they would gladly trade-off the lot size found in ordinary subur bia for pedestrian proximity to shared neigh borhood amenities. Using a consumer-attitude survey of Floridians, this work investigates the likelihood that individuals would exchange a large yard for pedestrian proximity to five community amenities The analysis finds contradicting evidence for new urbanist as sumptions about suburban preferences, but also finds some groups favorably responding to the trade-offs. The paper ends with a dis cussion of implications of findings and needs for future research.

Commutes, Neighborhood Effects, and Compensating Differentials: Revisited

This article reexamines a question first posed by Gabriel and Rosenthal [6]: Are minorities compensated for longer commutes by lower housing prices and better neighborhood amenities? They test this hypothesis by comparing the commutes of similar black and white household heads who reside in the same neighborhood. Gabriel and Rosenthal's sample combines households from many metropolitan areas and regions of the country. This article reexamines racial differences in commute time using samples drawn from individual metropolitan areas. The basic findings of Gabriel and Rosenthal are confirmed for some metropolitan areas, but the analysis also indicates that both racial commute time differences and the sources of potential compensation vary dramatically by metropolitan area.

Chapter 8. Rural-Urban Differences in Seniors' Neighbourhood Preferences

ABSTRACT Past research has indicated that it is important to consider the neighbourhood environment when addressing the issue of housing for seniors. Because rural and urban environments differ, neighbourhood preferences may vary as well. The following study attempts to ascertain the neighbourhood amenity preferences of a sample of rural and urban living elderly. A total of 1,408 seniors were asked to consider the importance of 11 amenities in a place to live. A factor analysis of the items indicates that planners need to consider three broad areas of amenities in a place to live: necessities, social interaction and life enrichment. Bivariate crosstabulations and multiple regression results demonstrate the importance of social interaction amenities to rural elders, confirming the instrumental importance that social relations serve for those living in rural areas.

Commutes, Neighborhood Effects, and Earnings: An Analysis of Racial Discrimination and Compensating Differentials

Recent “tester” studies indicate that minority workers face restricted residential and employment opportunities because of racial discrimination in housing and labor markets. These restrictions may create a spatial mismatch between where urban minorities reside and where metropolitan area jobs are located, resulting in reduced proximity of minority workers to jobs. Prior studies of racial discrimination and urban spatial mismatch, however, have paid little attention to the possibility that differences in employment commutes may be partially offset by compensating variations in neighborhood amenities, quality-adjusted house prices, and earnings. Such effects could help to mitigate the impact of discrimination on minority workers.Using a unique subset of the 1985 and 1989 American Housing Surveys, we estimate a fixed effects commute time model that controls for quality-adjusted house prices, neighborhood amenities, and earnings. Results indicate that although blacks have longer commutes than comparably skilled white and Asian workers, roughly one-third of the estimated difference is offset by neighborhood amenity and housing price differentials. However, even after controlling for neighborhood fixed effects and earnings, educated black workers have significantly longer commutes than comparably skilled Asian and white workers. Additional findings indicate that regardless of race, household mobility is an important mechanism through which the market attains a spatial equilibrium, providing further support for arguments that restricted proximity to residential opportunities and jobs reduces the economic welfare of minority households.

Streets, parks and houses: Case study of a pedestrian neighbourhood

This case study describes the results of an urban design process involving faculty and students from the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of Minnesota, an urban neighbourhood community group (Phalen Small-area Task Force) and the City of St. Paul Department of Planning and Economic Development. This multi-layered process examined: (1) the remains of the neighbourhood's ecological structure; (2) the existing infrastructure (including storm water, sewers, streets, etc.); (3) transit improvements and needs; (4) land use and zoning; (5) issues of crime; and (6) housing needs (especially problems in existing 2 1 2 storey apartments). The analysis led to three major physical design proposals which integrate new streets, parks and houses to create a safe, convenient and pedestrian-oriented neighbourhood through: (1) removing a deteriorating shopping mall and re-building a pre-existing wetland. The park created through this intervention reconnects the neighbourhood ,14to its ecological structure and creates a neighbourhood amenity, attracting new investment interests; (2) building a neighbourhood transit node with limited bus way to downtown and commercial niche, which attracts new development and balances the needs of people, transit and cars; and (3) inserting distinct neighbourhood streets which act as armatures to focus the rehabilitation of existing apartments and the development of diverse new housing types.

The nature of moral thinking

<h3>Background</h3> Little is known about how diet-related and activity-related amenities relate to residential location behaviour. Understanding these relationships is essential for addressing residential self-selection bias. <h3>Methods</h3> Using 25 years (6 examinations) of data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study (n=11 013 observations) and linked neighbourhood-level data from the 4 CARDIA baseline cities (Birmingham, Alabama; Chicago, Illinois; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Oakland, California, USA), we characterised participants’ neighbourhoods as having low, average or high road connectivity and amenities using non-hierarchical cluster analysis. We then used repeated measures multinomial logistic regression with random effects to examine the associations between individual-level sociodemographics and neighbourhood-level characteristics with residential neighbourhood types over the 25-year period, and whether these associations differed by individual-level income. <h3>Results</h3> Being female was positively associated with living in neighbourhoods with low (vs high) road connectivity and activity-related and diet-related amenities among high-income individuals only. At all income levels, a higher percentage of neighbourhood white population and neighbourhood population &lt;18 years were associated with living in neighbourhoods with low (vs high) connectivity and amenities. Individual-level race; age; and educational attainment, neighbourhood socioeconomic status and housing prices did not influence residential location behaviour related to neighbourhood connectivity and amenities at any income level. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Neighbourhood-level factors appeared to play a comparatively greater role in shaping residential location behaviour than individual-level sociodemographics. Our study is an important step in understanding how residential locational behaviour relates to amenities and physical activity opportunities, and may help mitigate residential self-selection bias in built environment studies.

Housing Price Gradients: The Intersection of Space and Built Form

A hedonic housing price model, implemented for the Dallas region, reveals a housing market structured around multiple nodes, some of which give rise to positive and others to negative externalities. The utility/disutility derived from relative location is capitalized into the size and quality of the housing stock and the nature of neighborhood amenities. The result is a convergence of space and built form.

An ordered probit model for estimating racial discrimination through fair housing audits

An ordered probit model is used to measure racial discrimination in the rental housing market for the Detroit metropolitan area during the 1980s. Racial differences persist in (1) rental units suggested to the homeseekers, (2) units actually inspected by them, (3) rental terms and conditions quoted, (4) information on the neighborhood amenities, and (5) qualifications of the homeseekers, but they appear to be declining over time. Agent prejudices and racial composition of neighborhoods in which rental units are located are significant in explaining discrimination.

Maximum score estimates of the determinants of residential mobility: Implications for the value of residential attachment and neighborhood amenities

This paper uses a semiparametric empirical technique (maximum score) to estimate the determinants of the decision of low-income renters to move out of their dwelling. The maximum score estimates prove to be far more precise than probit estimates. The estimates are used to show that low-income residents highly value remaining in their dwelling. In addition, these estimates are used to illustrate an alternative method to measure willingness to pay for neighborhood amenities, which we argue to be superior to hedonic-based WTP measures.

The Fast Lane of Urban Fringe Forest Economics

An urban fringe planting project in the South Hertfordshire Community Forest is described. Economic appraisal shows that eligibility for the Farm Woodland Scheme increases net present value significantly, but continuing agricultural use of the site would still be much more profitable than timber production. However, planting would redistribute and concentrate development hope value on to an adjacent unplanted area, open the prospect of redeveloping a redundant farm building site and improve neighbourhood amenity. Hence planning policy, development opportunities and the housing market will be important determinants of overall profitability.

Homebuyer choices and search behaviour in a distressed urban setting

Abstract Buyers purchase homes in Cleveland, Ohio, because visible neighbourhood qualities, structural attributes and neighbourhood amenities are appealing. How they perceive their housing and their neighbourhoods tends to vary with income, education, previous tenure and their type of employment. Their perceptions are confounded, however, by their race, the presence of school age children, their previous place of residence, work location and time expected to reside in the house. Neighbourhood familiarity and locational convenience are also key components in the homebuyer's decision process. Moreover, few higher income homebuyers anticipate remaining in their homes for more than four years. Because their work orientation is outside the downtown, future housing purchases may similarly occur outside the city. To the extent that there is a slackening in the purchasing of housing units in the central city by higher income households, housing market and neighbourhood stability are likely to deteriorate.

Crime and Racial Composition in Contiguous Communities as Negative Externalities: Prejudiced Household's Evaluation of Crime Rate and Segregation Nearby Reduces Housing Values and Tax Revenues

Abstract. How the level of amenities in surrounding communities affects the residential location decisions of households is considered. The amenities specifically taken into account are the crime and racial composition of the household's community and the contiguous communities. The theory of the household's valuation of neighborhood amenities through a housing value equation is expanded to include how the household's valuation of amenities is affected by the amenities in surrounding areas. An empirical model using data for 71 suburban communities in the Chicago Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area is specified to measure the simultaneous interaction between housing values, crime, and police effort. A revenue equation is included to determine how the household's valuation of crime and racial composition could affect the community's revenue‐raising ability. The empirical results indicate that the crime and racial composition of surrounding communities as well as within the household's community have a statistically significant negative effect on housing values. While the magnitude of the effect is small, the empirical results suggest that households consider the crime rate and racial composition of surrounding communities as negative externalities.

Hedonic Prices and Implicit Markets: Estimating Demand and Supply Functions for Differentiated Products

In choosing the level of quality to purchase, the buyer of a differentiated product also chooses a point on the marginal price schedule for that product. Hence, in general, the demand functions for product characteristics cannot be consistently estimated by ordinary least squares. Market equilibrium results in a matching of characteristics of demanders and suppliers. This matching restricts the use of buyer and seller characteristics as instruments when estimating demand and supply functions for product characteristics. The paper develops these issues. A stochastic structure for hedonic equilibrium models is then proposed, identification results are presented, and estimation procedures are outlined.

Economic analysis of intraurban migration in Tel-Aviv

The study and modeling of intraurban migration lags substantially behind interregional migration modeling. This paper formulates and estimates a model based on the same principles as are used to derive interregional models. The model, which is applied to data pertaining to the city of Tel-Aviv, Israel, emphasizes the relationship between migration and neighborhood amenities. The results obtained confirm the importance of neighborhood amenities in shaping intraurban migration pattern.

Parking Policy and Downtown Economic Development

For many years, the role of parking policy in most U.S. cities was to accommodate the automobile commuter by providing convenient spaces to park. Recently, however, many cities have begun to use parking management strategies as means of achieving a wide variety of community objectives, ranging from improved air quality to increased neighborhood amenity. This paper examines the use and impact of such strategies in fostering downtown economic development. The impact on economic development of four kinds of parking strategies—those that control the aggregate level of parking supply, the access to parking, the spatial distribution of parking supply, and the price are described in detail. Case studies of parking policies in Baltimore and Seattle are used to illustrate the different role of such policies with relation to economic development. An examination of the characteristics of the developer decisionmaking process leads to a conclusion that although the provision by government of parking space does not play a central role in development decisions, it can play a significant supporting role.

Valuation of education and crime neighborhood characteristics through hedonic housing prices

This article studies households' valuation of neighborhood amenities through analysis of housing as a bundle of structural and neighborhood characteristics. Using statistical techniques, hedonic prices, or incremental values in the market, can be imputed to each element of the bundle. Twelve variables describe neighborhood crime; twenty-one variables describe neighborhood schools. Together with structural variables, they significantly and substantially explain house prices in the Baltimore metropolitan area. The technique is also shown to provide a market framework for approximating the benefits of localized neighborhood improvements.

Neighborhood amenities and their impact on density gradients.

The literature is replete with studies of urban population density gradients which utilize a distance variable as their only explanatory variable. This model emphasizes only the trade-off between saving on travel costs and residential space and completely ignores other neighborhood amenities which might be important to consumers' decisions regarding their residential location. While in certain cases this omission might not result in any major distortion, it will distort the estimates in other cases. This study investigates the role played by neighborhood amenities in the determination of population, residential and build area densities in the city of Tel Aviv-Yaffo in Israel. The findings clearly indicate that distance alone fails to explain much of the spatial variation of the above densities and that neighborhood amenities, indeed, play an important role in the determination of densities.

Fiscal Impact on Intrametropolitan Residential Location: Further Insight on the Tiebout Hypothesis

This article focuses on the degree to which fiscal variations in a metropolitan area influence intrametropolitan residential location. Efforts to explain this aspect of locational behavior have essentially resulted in the empirical testing of the Tiebout hypothesis. The theoretical model in this article ties the localfiscal sector to traditional models of residential location. Within this framework, the Tiebout hypothesis and accessibility and neighborhood factors are examined. An important conclusion from this analysis is that it is optimal for upper income households to locate in the central city under certain conditions, despite fiscal advantages and greater neighborhood amenities in the suburbs. Essentially, location becomes an "inferior" good. Significant results are also drawn from the empirical model. First, the determinants of residential location were found to vary substantially by income groups. Second, the Tiebout hypothesis may not be valid in certain types of metropolitan areas.