A number of our neighbors are revisiting the James Street Overlay District guidelines, put in place as part of our zoning laws to prevent runaway suburban-style development such as the Dunkin Donuts and the Wilson Farms businesses that were allowed in before the guidelines were written.
Turns out, despite our needing a little time to get used to the idea, having just such an overlay helps to keep our real estate prices in our neighborhood going strong.
An article from yesterday’s Business section at Jacksonville.com entitled “Homes with ‘walkability’ command higher premium” cites a study from the Brookings Institute
…which calls the trend “walkable urbanism,” (and) that indicated ‘that about 25 to 30 percent of home-hunters seek walkability, but that it’s available in only about 4 percent of residential areas nationwide.
“There’s a premium on it,” Lorince said.
Marketing Eastwood as “walkable” as long as five years ago has helped us keep our own home and rental values not only steady but has contributed to the growth of our property’s value. We know this because people who contact us cite the walkable aspect of Eastwood that they are looking for in a new home neighborhood.
The above article also states (bolding mine):
Since World War II, development trends have skewed toward a “division of uses,” which separated destinations from residential areas, McEachin said.
That’s why fairly recent suburban neighborhoods scored low – Mandarin scored a 24 and Julington Creek a 21, according to WalkScore. But in historic areas like Springfield, zoning overlays continue to allow a mix of land uses near each other, he said.
Cortright’s report makes a case for more new developments to be built in the same vein as older ones – blending land uses so people can walk for purposes like going to work, running errands or seeking recreation and entertainment, rather than just for exercise.
One of the options the neighborhood group is looking at for our existing guidelines is ways to strengthen them, in particular, ways to require their enforcement. Now that’s an idea we can all take to the bank.
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