Greenways and Greenbacks: The Impact of the Catawba Regional Trail on Property Values in Charlotte, North Carolina

Planners and policy makers are increasingly aware that local amenities can play an important role in community and regional development and greenways represent one such amenity that can be locally developed. As planning initiatives compete for scarce resources it becomes vital that decision makers have ex ante information about the impact of policy options. This paper provides empirical estimates of changes in land value that should be expected if a planned greenway, the Catawba Regional Trail, is developed in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Passing through economically modest neighborhoods, the trail holds potential to increase equity in the distribution of open space though the aggregate impact on property values is limited by neighborhood characteristics. Using a hedonic land value model, we estimate the real estate premium associated with the trail and find that most of the impact to land values will be captured within 1000 ft of the planned greenway.