Examining the economic impact of park facilities on neighboring residential property values

The economic impacts of parks on adjacent property values have been extensively studied in the literature. Studies on how individual park facilities influence property values, however, are rarely found. While park facilities are essential for providing diverse recreational opportunities, their economic impacts should also be considered when designing a park system. This study, therefore, applied hedonic regression models to examine the impacts of park facilities on neighboring residential property values within the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The park facilities examined are divided into two categories: passive (i.e. passive recreation space, water features, and gardens) and active (i.e. children's play grounds, ball fields, tennis courts, skate park, etc.). Analysis of results suggests that park facilities for passive recreation, with the exception of urban gardens, are likely to have positive impacts on property values. Active facilities, especially skate parks and children's play areas, tend to introduce negative impacts. The impacts of facilities on property values decrease over distance zones from parks, which is consistent with the findings in the literature. Moreover, the impacts of facilities on property values vary with size, as gardens and most active facilities are more likely to be beneficial in small parks, while water features in large parks tend to increase property values. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.