Identifying the impacts of light rail station location on residential property values in the city of Sacramento

Thesis (M.P.P.A., Public Policy and Administration) -- California State University, Sacramento, 2009.The Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) Blueprint depicts a way for the Sacramento region to grow through the year 2050 by way of a ???Preferred Scenario??? which promotes compact, mixed-use, transit-oriented development (TOD). Senate Bill (SB) 375 looks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California by creating high-density TOD based communities that emphasize transit as the preferred mode of transportation. With a focus on the City of Sacramento, it is uncertain as to whether the Regional Transit light rail has a positive or negative effect on residential property value, thus the high-density TOD goals of the Blueprint and SB 375 are in question.\ud Conclusions Reached\ud Hedonic Regression analysis revealed that Regional Transit light rail does have a positive impact on residential property value. As distance from light rail station increased, the positive effect on property value decreased. The analysis also revealed that being too close to a light rail station (within 1/10 of a mile) yielded negative effects because of nuisance factors. Thus, the results argue in favor of high-density TOD goals of the SACOG Blueprint and SB 375.Public Policy and Administratio