Residential Land Values and Walkability

We examine 5,603 property transactions in Jefferson County, Alabama that take place between 2004 and 2008. Using OLS regressions, we estimate the extent to which differences in walkability, as measured by Walk Score™, can explain the variability in land values. We find that after controlling for population growth and lot size, land values generally increase with walkability and that this result is stable over time. However, we find evidence that this impact reverses as neighborhoods become more car-dependent. This car dependency increases as the distance from the central business district increases. We consider the implications of our findings on mixed-use developments in what we believe is the first study to address walkability in this context of sustainable development.