Walking to accomplish tasks (getting food, going to work, shopping, going to play basketball) provides a better quality of life than having to drive (getting stuck in traffic jams…) and saves money and protects the environment. Walk Score is a cool web site that lets you calculate a walkability score. I would imagine the better the walkability score the better for the prospects of a real estate investment. You still have to determine if the current price already reflects the long term benefits to quality of life (which are then represented in increased prices) – I think often they will not be providing an investing opportunity. My guess is that real estate would increase above the market if you invested in areas that show walkability score increases during your ownership.
Related: Urban Planning and Real Estate Investing – Real Estate articles – 30 year fixed Mortgage Rates – Real estate blog posts
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[...] Urban Planning – How Walkable is Your Prospective Neighborhood – Exurbs Hardest Hit in Recent Housing Slump (Feb 2007) April 22nd, 2008 by John Hunter | | Tags: [...]