Originally Posted by
Parkguy
There have been many studies [[not experiments, but analysis of real numbers) that show that light rail increases property values. You can google something like "value of light rail" [[which I just did) and get a long list of articles, including arguements for, against, and back and forth on the issue. Arguments from the left, right, center, and outside the political spectrum. But, evidence from Portland shows huge investments along their LRT lines, for instance. When Seattle built a new streetcar line north of downtown, huge investment moved in even before the system was built, including a big cancer center and Amazon's headquarters, along with residential and mixed use. And that is a streetcar, which is slow. The Urban Land Institute did an analysis of the effects of the Metro system as it branched out into suburban Virginia, and they found that the same thing happened, plus it increased the total property tax base. On top of that-- the TAX BURDEN SHIFTED from auto-centric subdivision areas to the new high-density development. In other words, the new dense areas took a percentage of the total tax burden away from older areas. I would think that pro-sprawl, pro-auto-suburb folks would love that. I don't remember the numbers, but I wonder if the increased tax for the regional transit system and the amount saved by the shifted burden is a wash?