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Abstract This paper examines the impacts of the City of Cincinnati urban park system on residential property values using two local spatial hedonic model specifications: the spatial Durbin error model (SDEM) model, and the spatial lag of X model (SLX). Specifically, we examine how the distance to parks, the size of the nearest park, and the presence of park facilities for recreational activities, affect property values. Our results show that decreasing the distance to a park by one meter appreciates of the value of the average house in our sample by $3.44 to $6.27. A one hectare increase in the park size appreciates house values by $22.24 to $22.48 and the presence of park facilities for recreational activities depreciates house values by an estimated $4,612 to 5,300 for properties within a 500 meter radius to the nearest park.
1 Introduction
Cincinnati has enjoyed a long-standing tradition of public parks. The formation of the Cincinnati Board of Park Commissioners in 1906 and the master plan for Cincinnati's parks A Park System for the City of Cincinnati by George Kessler in 1907 laid the foundation for what has become one of the nation's most recognized urban park systems. Cincinnati Parks is ranked 7 on the ParkScore® in 2015, published by The Trust for Public Land. One hundred years later, Cincinnati City Council adopted the Cincinnati Parks 2007 Centennial Master Plan, which guides the Cincinnati Board of Park Commissioners' mission "to conserve, manage, sustain, and enhance parks' natural and cultural resources and public greenspace for the enjoyment, enlightenment and enrichment of the Cincinnati community" for the decades to come. Today, the City of Cincinnati park system entails over 5,000 acres of city parklands, including five regional parks, 70 neighborhood parks, and 34 nature preserves, numerous natural areas and scenic overlooks, and a total of 50 miles of hiking and bridle trails. The park system amounts to approximately ten percent of Cincinnati's total land area, including the Cincinnati Zoo.
While voters supported the Cincinnati Board of Park Commissioners' mission, they declined the slight property tax increase necessary to maintain and improve the parks system. In the 2015 election, Cincinnati voters overwhelmingly rejected a bill to add a one mill tax levy that would have raised an estimated $5...