Historic Districts and their Effects on Land Use

Zoning policies send a distorted market signal

The Heartland Institute reports on a study that shows bad zoning policies can lead to economic stagnation.

After analyzing datasets of residential transactions for the past 35 years and data from New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, researchers concluded that using zoning policy to designate neighborhoods as having a “historic” nature generally caused property values to increase, but also cause “a significant negative impact on the amount of new housing construction” around and within the district in question.

Also, researchers found that historic districts with fewer regulations were observed to have more new economic activity than districts with more regulations.

Read the article and the study here: http://heartland.org/policy-documents/preserving-history-or-hindering-growth-heterogenous-effects-historic-districts-loca

The Heartland Institute reports on a study that shows bad zoning policies can lead to economic stagnation.

After analyzing datasets of residential transactions for the past 35 years and data from New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, researchers concluded that using zoning policy to designate neighborhoods as having a “historic” nature generally caused property values to increase, but also cause “a significant negative impact on the amount of new housing construction” around and within the district in question.

Also, researchers found that historic districts with fewer regulations were observed to have more new economic activity than districts with more regulations.

Read the article and the study here: http://heartland.org/policy-documents/preserving-history-or-hindering-growth-heterogenous-effects-historic-districts-loca