An Economic Analysis of the Value of Local Street Improvements In Springfield, Oregon

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Date

2012

Authors

Rasmussen, Ethan
Yang, Famery
Blonigen, Bruce A.

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Oregon

Abstract

The City of Springfield faces deteriorating street conditions due to a steady decline in transportation funding. The City believes a possible solution to this problem is to improve its local streets with funding from residential property assessments. However, to encourage property owners to bear the costs of improving roads, the City would like to better understand the value of local street improvements. This paper surveys the existing literature on amenity valuation and infrastructure investment and proposes a hedonic price regression to estimate the impact local street conditions have on residential house prices. Our results suggest better street conditions have a positive effect on Springfield house prices when property values exceed a minimum sales price threshold. Based on these findings, we conduct a cost-benefit analysis of local street improvements and suggest additional considerations for the City of Springfield.

Description

43 pages

Keywords

Springfield (Or.), City planning -- Oregon -- Springfield, Streets -- Oregon -- Springfield

Citation