The Market Demands Walkable Neighborhoods

Angie Schmidt for StreetsBlog:

Homes in Boise’s walkable neighborhoods sold for 45 percent more than those in sprawling places, according to a recent study. The institute examined thousands of home sales around six cities in those three states since 2009. Only about 16 percent of the housing in the six regions studied was characterized as walkable, and researchers found that dwellings in walkable areas sold for an 18.5 percent premium over those sited among sprawl.

The discrepancy was even more pronounced around Boise, where homes in walkable neighborhoods sold for 45 percent more than those in disconnected areas, the Idaho Stateman reports.

We’ve built a lot of sprawl. There’s a large segment of the market that wants something different.