Public Preferences and Property Valuation Impacts of Conservation Subdivisions
Principle Investigators:
Dr. David Newman, Professor,
Warnell School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
E-mail: newman@smokey.forestry.uga.edu
&
Dr. J. Michael Bowker, USDA Forest Service, Athens, GA
E-mail: mbowker@fs.fed.us
Beginning/Ending Dates: July 1, 2004 thru June 30, 2005
Brief Description:
Population growth and the increased need for housing and infrastructure have led to substantial
losses of open space throughout the South and the U.S. as a whole. Planners and others have
searched for "smart growth" alternatives to this landscape destruction. Options include preferential taxation
schemes, zoning restrictions, transferable development rights, and the use of
conservation easements. A recent innovation combining several smart growth techniques is the use of
"conservation subdivisions" as a means of increasing the density of development
while maintaining green space. These programs work by allowing a developer to increase the
number of developable units if he/she dedicates a specified portion of the development to
permanent conservation uses. It is believed that these developments can secure substantial environmental benefits at
relatively low cost to the developer because home prices should increase. While these developments have been going
forward in communities across the nation, relatively little empirical data exists regarding the financial impact of these policies.
The proposed research will seek to remedy this lack of information.
Objectives:
- Develop an econometric database to model the economic impact of conservation developments
on property values;
- Analyze the existing NSRE database to assess perceptions of urban forestry issues and how that might affect the development of new mart growth policies.
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